Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of organic frameworks having two-dimensional and three-dimensional extended structures in which building blocks are linked by strong covalent bonds but these structures are realized through reversible connections. COFs are porous and crystalline and are made entirely from light elements (H, B, C, N, and O) that are known to form strong covalent bonds in different manner. Fabrication of COF materials from designed building blocks would provide diverse nature of frameworks that could be functionalized into lightweight materials for a variety of applications. Our group is mainly focusing the preparation of COF using irreversible bond formation to provide stability and possibility for real applications. Fused aromatic network (FAN) structures are a category of ordered porous polymers that permit the specific fusion of building blocks into extended porous network structures with designed skeletons and pores. One significant feature of FANs is that their structures can be tailorable with fused aromatic rings without rotatable single‐bond connectivity. The stably confined spaces of FAN architectures can be extended for the exchange of photons, ions, electrons, holes, and guest molecules, and exhibit customized chemical, electrochemical and optical properties.

Our research group chiefly targeting the design of new interesting building blocks for the construction of unique 2D & 3D fused aromatic structures, using the robust fused ring formation between the two designed monomers. Some examples of fused aromatic networks synthesized by our group are given below.