A Facile Strategy for In Situ Fabrication of Covalent Triazine Framework Aerogel with Thermal Insulation Property

Covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) have attracted tremendous attention with respect to their rich nitrogen content, functional triazine units, and high porosity. However, efficient and simple preparation of CTF monoliths is still a challenge. Here, we propose a novel and facile approach for the in situ preparation of CTF aerogels. Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid was used as the solvent and catalyst, which could not only promote the polymerization reaction to form a gel but also protonate the CTFs. By virtue of the simplicity and efficiency of the strategy, a series of macroscopic CTF aerogels with tunable density were obtained by adjusting the monomer concentration. Due to the porous and partially crystalline structure, the as-produced macroscopic CTF aerogels behaved with good mechanical and thermal insulation performances. This finding thus offers an effective and easily scalable approach toward fabricating macroscopic CTF aerogels and broadens the applications of CTFs in a variety of domains.