Overview

Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) are crystalline porous materials formed by covalent bonds between organic building blocks, representing a rapidly emerging class of advanced materials since their discovery in 2005 by Omar YAGHI. COFs offer modular design, high stability, tunable porosity, etc., enabling transformative applications in gas storage and separation, heterogeneous catalysis, energy storage and conversion, optoelectronics, environmental remediation, biomedicine, etc. They foster interdisciplinary research across chemistry, materials science, and engineering, with superior chemical/thermal robustness and sustainability.

This Focused Program will provide a dynamic forum for leading international and local experts to discuss recent breakthroughs in COF design, synthesis, structural control, functional modification, and real-world applications. It will advance our understanding of COF fundamentals and translational potential through in-depth presentations and collaborative discussions.

In particular, the program will emphasize the following key topics:

Rational design and modular synthesis of novel COF architectures
Structural characterization, dynamics, and defect engineering
Functional applications in energy (batteries, supercapacitors, photocatalysis), catalysis, gas capture/separation, optoelectronics, and biomedicine
Scalability, industrial translation, and sustainability challenges

Many distinguished speakers from around the world will deliver cutting-edge talks on COF research, thereby promoting new collaborations and future directions in this vibrant field.
Organizers
Yoonseob KIM
HKUST
Qichun ZHANG
City University of Hong Kong
Wei ZHANG
University of Colorado Boulder