Truxone-Based Conductive Metal–Organic Frameworks for the Oxygen Reductive Reaction

Two-dimensional conductive porous materials have been used extensively in the fields of electrocatalysis, electrochemical sensing, electronic devices, and so on. Herein, a novel conductive metal–organic framework (MOF) with a Kagome lattice is prepared by the efficient complexation of a C₃ᵥ-symmetric ligand 2,3,7,8,12,13-hexahydroxyl truxone and a copper ion. This π–d conjugated framework (truxone–Cu) is obtained as a shiny black powder by liquid–liquid interfacial polymerization. It shows the typical characteristics of a semiconductor with a grain conductivity of up to 4.0 mS cm–¹ at 30 °C. In order to obtain deep insight into the conduction behavior of the truxone–Cu MOF, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed on its periodic unit and give a small energy gap of 0.24 eV. Owing to its good electrical conductivity and the excellent redox reversibility of both the truxone ligand and the metal center, the truxone–Cu MOF-modified electrode was successfully applied to catalyze the oxygen reductive reaction (ORR).