COF-Based Photocatalysis: Global Research Dynamics, Synthetic Approaches, and Future Directions Revealed Through A Scientometric Analysis from 2015 to 2025

Photocatalysis has emerged as a sustainable solution for global energy demand and environmental challenges through solar-to-chemical energy conversion and pollutant degradation. Conventional photocatalysts, e.g., metal oxides and organic polymers encounter limitations including low surface area, poor tunability, and limited visible-light absorption. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have garnered significant attention as promising photocatalysts due to their tunable structure, high porosity, extended π-conjugation, allowing for tunable band gaps. Since their first preparation by Yaghi’s group in 2005 and their first photocatalytic application in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by Lotsch’s group in 2014, the field has witnessed marvelous progress. Over the past decade, COF-based photocatalysis has expanded to embrace diverse applications, including CO 2 reduction, HER, pollutant degradation, organic transformations, and overall water splitting. In this scientometric analysis review from 2015 to 2025 , various synthetic methods, e.g., solvothermal, mechanochemical, microwave-assisted, ionothermal, interfacial and room temperature have been briefly discussed as well as characterization techniques used to evaluate their structural and optical properties. We systematically analyzed the research landscape of COF-based photocatalysis using the Scopus database. Data was processed with Bibliometrix and VOSviewer following the PRISMA framework to ensure transparent and reproducible results. The analyses revealed several trends in publication growth, top contributing authors and their collaborations, top countries’ scientific production, most relevant journals, most cited papers as well as co-citation and keywords networks. Key findings and future research directions were outlined based on the most recent and most cited articles that aimed at identifying research themes, gaps in the literature and proposing future research aspects toward the advancement of COFs-based photocatalysis such as expanding COFs-based application scope, developing new linker structures and improving synthesis approaches.