A Molecular Twist Boosts Solar-Powered Hydrogen Peroxide Production

Scientists have developed two new covalent organic frameworks (COFs) that efficiently produce hydrogen peroxide -- a valuable chemical and potential solar fuel -- using only water, oxygen, and visible light. By carefully tuning the molecular connectivity of an electron-deficient building block called benzobisthiazole (BT), the team created two regioisomeric COFs with distinctly different photocatalytic activities. The better-performing framework achieved a hydrogen peroxide production rate of 1638 μmol(mid dot)g⁻¹(mid dot)h⁻¹ in pure water under visible light, outperforming its structural isomer by about 57%. This work demonstrates that precise control over molecular topology can dramatically boost photocatalytic efficiency.