In situ photodeposition of platinum clusters on a covalent organic framework for photocatalytic hydrogen production

Photocatalytic hydrogen production has been considered a promising approach to obtain green hydrogen energy. Crystalline porous materials have arisen as key photocatalysts for efficient hydrogen production. Here, we report a strategy to in situ photodeposit platinum clusters as cocatalyst on a covalent organic framework, which makes it an efficient photocatalyst for light-driven hydrogen evolution. Periodically dispersed adsorption sites of platinum species are constructed by introducing adjacent hydroxyl group and imine-N in the region of the covalent organic framework structural unit where photogenerated electrons converge, leading to the in situ reduction of the adsorbed platinum species into metal clusters by photogenerated electrons. The widespread platinum clusters on the covalent organic framework expose large active surface and greatly facilitate the electron transfer, finally contributing to a high photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 42432 μmol g−1 h−1 at 1 wt% platinum loading. This work provides a direction for structural design on covalent organic frameworks to precisely manipulate cocatalyst morphologies and positions at the atomic level for developing efficient photocatalysts.