Perylene-Based 2D Covalent Organic Frameworks for Selective Adsorption and Extraction of C₆₀

Abstract

The structures and functions of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) can be precisely tuned via manipulation of reticular chemistry. COFs have been widely utilized as a multifunctional porous material owing to their uniform pore size, designable pore environment, and high surface area. In this work, a series of two-dimensional (2D) perylene-based microporous COFs, named TFPP-TAPP-COF, TFPP-TAPE-COF, and TFPP-CoTPAP-COF, were developed based on the C 4 + C 4 topological diagram. These COFs exhibit excellent crystallinity, high surface area, and strong robustness against various organic solvents, moisture, and strong acid and base aqueous solutions. Owing to the electron-donating nature of perylene units, these COFs can have strong host−guest interaction with the electron-accepting fullerenes. It is noteworthy that all three perylene-based COFs exhibited exceptional capacity and high efficiency for fullerene capture. In addition, TFPP-TAPE-COF has a higher adsorption selectivity of C 60 over C 70 due to its appropriate pore size, which allows selective extraction of C 60 from C 60 and C 70 mixtures. These results illustrate that these perylene-based 2D COFs can serve as a powerful custom-built platform for the enrichment, extraction, and separation of fullerenes.