Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series Presents, Seungkyu Lee from The University of Hong Kong

“Covalent organic frameworks with ultrahigh surface area and fully carbon-based backbone”

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of structurally tunable crystalline materials that offer unique opportunities for introducing new architectures and functions in materials science. Despite their promise, several synthetic challenges have hindered the development of this class of materials. In this talk, Prof. Lee will present chemical strategies to address two major limitations in COF chemistry: low porosity and the synthesis of fully hydrocarbon frameworks.

This presentation will discuss synthetic approaches for constructing COFs with record-high surface areas exceeding 7,000 m² g⁻¹ and large mesopores (>6 nm), as well as fully hydrocarbon composition frameworks that extend π-conjugation within ordered two-dimensional lattices. Prof. Lee will further highlight how these materials evolve from molecular building blocks into extended frameworks, the mechanisms that enable mechanical stability, and the implications of these advances for gas storage, energy-related applications, and future COF design.

Get to know Seungkyu

Professor Seungkyu Lee is an assistant professor of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong. He received his PhD training in metal–organic frameworks and porous materials at UC Berkeley under the supervision of Prof. Omar Yaghi. He then joined the research group of Prof. Chad A. Mirkin at Northwestern University, where he worked on the synthesis of DNA-engineered superlattices. He is currently an HKU-100 Scholar at HKU. His research group focuses on developing new strategies for chemical bonding and structural design in covalent organic frameworks, with the goal of expanding the synthetic scope and functional diversity of COFs.