COVALENT ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS CONTAINING CU(I) COMPLEX FOR PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF PHARMACEUTICALS AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS IN WATER
Water scarcity prompted the agricultural sector to reuse treated wastewater for crop irrigation. However, this reuse imposes new challenges, such as absorbing various pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) into the soil and plants. PPCPs can accumulate within the edible parts of crops, raising concerns about food safety and the long-term health implications of consuming contaminated produce.Photocatalytic advanced oxidation technology (AOT) is a sustainable, eco-friendly technology harnessing solar energy to drive the degradation of organic contaminants without any additional chemicals. However, the limited efficiency of photocatalysts, arising from inefficient visible light harvesting and safety concerns in water treatment, hindered practical application. Finding a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method for PPCP degradation relies on developing optimal photocatalysts. Woven covalent organic frameworks (COFs) represent a cutting-edge class of materials characterized by their intricate three-dimensional entangled structures. These remarkable materials can integrate Cu(I) complexes into the COF framework in a single synthetic step, allowing the design of novel multifunctional materials with tailored properties. Incorporating spatially isolated Cu(I) centers within woven COFs leads to enhanced optoelectronic properties because of metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT). However, up to now, the photocatalytic and optoelectronic properties of this type of material have not been investigated. In this study, for the first time, we synthesized and characterized a series of woven COFs and assessed their optoelectronic properties and photocatalytic activity in the degradation of sulfamethoxazole as a ubiquitous antibiotic in wastewater. In Chapter 2, a novel woven covalent organic framework (Cu-PhenPy-COF) was successfully synthesized to evaluate the potential of woven COF as a photocatalyst and compare this type of material with molecular photocatalysts such as transition metal complexes in terms of stability and reusability. In Chapter 3, our research presented the effect of MLCT on the optoelectronic and photocatalytic properties of woven COF and a method for tuning these properties. We synthesized Cu-PhenBDA-COF, functionalized with diacetylene bonds, and the optoelectronic and photocatalytic properties of Cu-PhenBDA-COF were compared to those of previously reported Cu-COF-505. The Cu(I) center was removed from both woven COFs, and the effect on band gap and charge separation efficiency was evaluated. This research explored the potential of woven COFs as novel advanced materials for photocatalytic application, showcasing their ability to tune the optoelectronic properties.