MOFs Conferred with Transient Metal Centers for Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Highly effective photocatalysts for the hydrogen-evolution reaction were developed by conferring the linkers of NH₂ -MIL-125(Ti), a metal-organic framework (MOF) constructed from TiO_x clusters and 2-aminoterephthalic acid (linkers), with active copper centers. This design enables effective transfer of electrons from the linkers to the transient Cu²⁺ /Cu⁺ centers, leading to 7000-fold and 27-fold increase of carrier density and lifetime of photogenerated charges, respectively, as well as high-rate production of H₂ under visible-light irradiation. This work provides a novel design of a photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution using non-noble Cu²⁺ /Cu⁺ as co-catalysts.