Early View e202511559
Communication

Stepwise Post-Modification of Pyridine-Imine COFs for Enhanced Hydrolytic Stability and Proton Conductivity

Hongfei Wang

Hongfei Wang

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Wen-Na Jiao

Wen-Na Jiao

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Wei-De Zhu

Wei-De Zhu

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Si Huang

Si Huang

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Xiao-Chun Lin

Xiao-Chun Lin

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Ting Chen

Ting Chen

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Yanan Fan

Yanan Fan

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Fangzheng Chen

Fangzheng Chen

Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117543 Singapore

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Prof. Hai-Sen Xu

Corresponding Author

Prof. Hai-Sen Xu

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

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Prof. Mei Pan

Prof. Mei Pan

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

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Prof. Cheng-Yong Su

Corresponding Author

Prof. Cheng-Yong Su

GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, LIFM, IGCME, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275 China

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

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First published: 24 June 2025

Graphical Abstract

The self-condensation reaction of bifunctional monomers containing both amino and acetal groups yielded COF-LIFM7. Via subsequent amidation and N-oxidation modifications, the pore polarity and hydrophilicity of the post-modified COFs were progressively enhanced, consequently leading to a significant increase in proton conductivity.

Abstract

Emerging as a type of promising material for proton conduction, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) assembled from dynamic imine bonds face a challenge of surmounting hydrolytic instability to achieve long-term performance in humid environments. In this work, we report a post-synthetic strategy to simultaneously enhance the hydrolytic stability and hydrophilicity of a pyridine-imine-based COF, COF-LIFM7, without compromising its crystallinity and porosity. A bifunctional monomer containing amino and acetal groups was employed to construct the primary framework, which was subsequently modified via amide formation and pyridine N-oxidation to yield COF-LIFM7-Amide and COF-LIFM7-Amide-N+O. These stepwise modifications increased the polarity and hydrogen-binding sites within COF pores to improve water affinity, leading to a three-order-of-magnitude enhancement in the proton conductivity for COF-LIFM7-Amide-N+O, reaching 1.9 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 95% relative humidity and 70 °C. This study highlights a generalizable post-synthetic approach for tuning the pore chemistry of COFs to achieve high performance in proton-conducting applications under humid conditions.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the Supporting Information of this article. Deposition Number 22450595 (for M2) contains the supplementary crystallographic data for this paper. These data can be obtained free of charge via the joint Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) and Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe Access Structures service.

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