Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (11): 100385.doi: 10.1016/j.actphy.2026.100385

Special Issue: 2026 Special Issue of Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica: Emerging Scientists

• ARTICLE • Previous Articles    

Interlayer interaction modulation via dihedral angle engineering in tetrazine COFs boosts charge transfer for photocatalytic H2O2 production

Chongbei Wu1, Feihong Chu1, Pengfei Kong1, Yuanxin Dong1, Gege Wang1, Lefan Wang1, Haitao Li1, Meixin Zhang1, Lifang Feng1, Xuan Li1, Jizhou Jiang2,3   

  1. 1 Hebei Center for Industrial Energy-Saving and Pollution Control Research, Hebei Key Laboratory of Man-Machine Environmental Thermal Control Technology and Equipment, Hebei Vocational University of Technology and Engineering, Xingtai 054000, Hebei Province, China;
    2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Green and Efficient Development of Phosphorus Resources, Engineering Research Center of Phosphorus Resources Development and Utilization of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering Process of Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Plasma Chemistry and Advanced Materials, Novel Catalytic Materials of Hubei Engineering Research Center, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, Hubei Province, China;
    3 FTSCI Institute of Industrial Technology for Advanced Chemical and New Materials, Wuhan 430080, Hubei Province, China
  • Received:2026-06-29 Revised:2026-08-09 Accepted:2026-08-09 Published:2026-09-29
  • Contact: Jizhou Jiang E-mail:027wit@163.com

Abstract: Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) show promise for solar-driven hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) photosynthesis, but are limited by inefficient interlayer charge transport. Here, this study leverages non-covalent interactions arising from steric hindrance to gradually replace alternating C atoms in the central aryl ring of a triphenylarene platform with N atoms, thereby designing and synthesizing a series of tetrazine-based COFs (Tz-COF-Nx). The results show that as the number of N atoms in the COFs backbone increases, the dihedral angle between adjacent aromatic rings progressively decreases. The strengthened interlayer π-π interactions shorten the electron migration distance between layers and significantly improve the separation and migration efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers. The interlayer electron transfer numbers follow the trend: Tz-COF-N3 (0.021 e-) > Tz-COF-N2 (0.011 e-) > Tz-COF-N1 (0.006 e-) > Tz-COF-N0 (0.001 e-). Consequently, Tz-COF-N3 achieves a photocatalytic H2O2 production rate of 6316.4 μmol g-1 h-1 in pure water, which is 5.3 times higher than that of the benzene-tetrazine COF (Tz-COF-N0). This study provides a feasible strategy for designing efficient COF-based photocatalysts by tuning the spatial configuration to optimize interlayer interactions and promote interlayer charge transport.

Key words: Covalent organic frameworks, Photocatalytic H2O2 production, Interlayer electron transfer, Dihedral angle