Function-Oriented On-Surface Synthesis of Metallated 2D COFs

A technological revolution is often based on the discovery of novel materials, graphene being one of the most popular of such materials. Another class of famed materials comprise of the so-called twodimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D-COFs). These frameworks are ultra-thin (one-molecule thick), complex, sheet-like macromolecules that can be synthesized in a truly bottom-up approach and have fascinating applications in fields like advanced electronics and catalysis. Metal containing 2D-COFs have recently shown to possess great potential as electrocatalysts for CO2 fixation and its conversion into value added chemicals. This project pushes the state-of-the-art by carrying out the on-surface synthesis, the realtime, real-space single molecular level characterization of structurally precise, heteroatom-rich and stable metal containing 2D-COFs followed by the evaluation of their stability and surface dynamics after long exposures to reductive potentials in well-controlled CO2 operando experiments. By working at reduced dimensionality, this project aims to extract crucial structure-property relationships which will guide the design of the future electrocatalytic frameworks.