A Brief Review on Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs): From Synthesis to Industrial Application

Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) are porous crystalline polymers put together by linking light elements such as Carbon, Boron, Oxygen and Silicon through strong covalent bonds that are positioned in 2D or 3D topology. Porous organic materials, exhibit unique features and therefore, they can potentially be used in diverse applications such as catalyst, molecular sensing, drug delivery, and gas storage. Metallic organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) attracted the attention of researchers because of their characteristic properties such as high free surface area, low density, high thermal and chemical stability, and uniformity and high porosity. So far, thousands of new polymer frameworks have been synthesized after discovering the frst structure. In this paper, the latest developments in design, synthesis and various applications of covalent organic frameworks such as gas storage, catalyst, adsorption, enrichment and purifcation of small molecules, optoelectricity, molecular sensing, targeted drug delivery, conductive membranes, novel coatings, and energy storage are discussed.