A reliable
quantitative structure–property relationship
(QSPR) model was established for predicting the evolution rate of
CO2 photoreduction over porphyrin-based metal–organic
frameworks (MOFs) as photocatalysts. The determination coefficient
(R
2) for both training and test sets was
0.999. The root-mean-squared error of prediction (RMSEP) obtained
was 0.006 and 0.005 for training and test sets, respectively. Based
on the proposed model, two porphyrin-based MOFs, Cu-PMOF and Co-PMOF,
were designed, synthesized, and applied for CO2 photoreduction
under UV–visible irradiation without any additional photosensitizer.
The X-ray diffraction (XRD), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS),
and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements revealed the successful
formation of the porous MOFs. The N2 adsorption isotherms
at 77 K showed a high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface
area of 932.64 and 974.06 m2·g–1 for Cu-PMOF and Co-PMOF, respectively. Theoretical and experimental
results showed that HCOOH evolution rates over Cu-PMOF and Co-PMOF
were (127.80, 101.62 μmol) and (130.6, 103.47 μmol), respectively.
These results were robust and satisfactory.