Strong‐Base‐Assisted Synthesis of a Crystalline Covalent Triazine Framework with High Hydrophilicity via Benzylamine Monomer for Photocatalytic Water Splitting

Methods to synthesize crystalline covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) are limited and little attention has been paid to development of hydrophilic CTFs and photocatalytic overall water splitting. A route to synthesize crystalline and hydrophilic CTF‐HUST‐A1 with a benzylamine‐functionalized monomer is presented. The base reagent used plays an important role in the enhancement of crystallinity and hydrophilicity. CTF‐HUST‐A1 exhibits good crystallinity, excellent hydrophilicity, and excellent photocatalytic activity in sacrificial photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (hydrogen evolution rate up to 9200 μmol g−1 h−1). Photocatalytic overall water splitting is achieved by depositing dual co‐catalysts in CTF‐HUST‐A1, with H2 evolution and O2 evolution rates of 25.4 μmol g−1 h−1 and 12.9 μmol g−1 h−1 in pure water without using sacrificial agent. All about the base: A benzylamine‐functionalized monomer is used to synthesize crystalline and hydrophilic CTF‐HUST‐A1. The base reagent used in the reaction plays an important role in the enhancement of the crystallinity and hydrophilicity. The resulting CTF‐HUST‐A1 shows excellent activity in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.