Researchers at Koç University have developed a light-driven method to produce porous semiconducting polymers under ambient conditions without the need for metal catalysts. The study, led by Prof. Dr. Önder Metin from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Dr. Melek Sermin Özer, Dr. Zafer Eroğlu, and Prof. Dr. Sermet Koyuncu, was published in Nature Communications.

Porous semiconducting organic polymers have attracted growing attention due to their high thermal and chemical stability, as well as their tunable structures. With a high density of molecular-scale pores, these materials exhibit strong charge transport and light-harvesting capabilities, making them promising for applications ranging from gas storage and energy technologies to photocatalysis and optoelectronics.

However, conventional synthesis methods are often complex, costly, and difficult to scale. They typically require high temperatures, expensive metal catalysts, and multi-step reaction processes, limiting their broader applicability.