Conjugated Microporous Polymers for Catalytic CO Conversion

Rising carbon dioxide (CO) levels in the atmosphere are recognized as a threat to atmospheric stability and life. Although this greenhouse gas is being produced on a large scale, there are solutions to reduction and indeed utilization of the gas. Many of these solutions involve costly or unstable technologies, such as air-sensitive metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for CO capture or “non-green” systems such as amine scrubbing. Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) represent a simpler, cheaper, and greener solution to CO capture and utilization. They are often easy to synthesize at scale (a one pot reaction in many cases), chemically and thermally stable (especially in comparison with their MOF and covalent organic framework (COF) counterparts, owing to their amorphous nature), and, as a result, cheap to manufacture. Furthermore, their large surface areas, tunable porous frameworks and chemical structures mean they are reported as highly efficient CO capture motifs. In addition, they provide a dual pathway to utilize captured CO via chemical conversion or electrochemical reduction into industrially valuable products. Recent studies show that all these attractive properties can be realized in metal-free CMPs, presenting a truly green option. The promising results in these two fields of CMP applications are reviewed and explored here.