The successful synthesis of the COFs was further analyzed. Solid-state
13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis confirmed the presence of characteristic carbon signals of the -C=N- group at around 153 parts per million (ppm) for all 3 COFs, proving their synthesis through the Schiff base condensation reaction (Fig.
2D to F). Except for TAPP-TB-COF, the characteristic carbon signals at 150 ppm [
19], corresponding to the introduced thiazole groups, were observed in the NMR spectra of TAPP-TZ-COF and TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF. Additionally, the characteristic carbon signal of the -OCH
3 group was only observed in the spectrum of TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF at around 50 ppm, confirming the successful incorporation of the -OCH
3 group [
20]. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum analysis showed that all 3 COFs exhibited a characteristic peak at 1,610 cm
−1, corresponding to the stretching vibration of -C=N-, further validating the synthesis of these COFs via Schiff base condensation (Fig. S4). Unlike the spectrum of TAPP-TB-COF, the characteristic peaks for the thiazole group at 649 cm
−1, corresponding to -C-S-C, were observed in the spectra of TAPP-TZ-COF and TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF. Moreover, the specific peak at 1,218 cm
−1 for the -OCH
3 group was also observed in TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF [
21,
22]. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that the N 1
s peaks for TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF, TAPP-TZ-COF, and TAPP-TB-COF appeared at binding energies of 399.10, 399.34, and 399.50 eV, respectively, indicating the formation of imine bonds via the Schiff base condensation reaction (Fig. S5) [
23]. The signals of the protonated N atom in the form of -NH- in the porphyrin group were observed at binding energies of 397.48, 397.68, and 397.91 eV for the 3 COFs, respectively. Although these N atoms were derived from the same chemical group, they exhibited different binding energies, which was attributed to the different electronic structures of these 3 COFs. This variation correlates with the donor–acceptor interactions within the frameworks. The porphyrin units act as electron donors, while the TB, TZ, and TZ-OMe linkers provide progressively stronger acceptor effects. The enhanced charge delocalization and p–π conjugation in the TZ-OMe linker increase electron density around nitrogen, leading to the observed negative shift in binding energy. The characterizations of the synthesized COFs were further investigated. N
2 adsorption–desorption isotherms revealed that the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areas for TAPP-TB-COF, TAPP-TZ-COF, and TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF were 203, 265, and 758 m
2 g
−1, respectively (Fig.
2G to I). The substantially increased BET surface area of TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF can be attributed to the introduction of methoxy groups, which expand the interlayer spacing of the COF, thereby increasing their surface area, which can further benefit the interaction of gold with the materials. The analysis of the pore size distributions of these 3 COFs also proved that TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF exhibited bigger pore size, which was consistent with the interlayer distance of these COFs (Fig.
1B and Fig. S6). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations showed that all 3 COFs existed in a 2-dimensional nanosheet structure, which can also benefit the interaction of gold with the materials (Fig.
2G to I). Additionally, the results of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that no substantial weight loss was observed up to 300 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere, indicating that the COFs possessed excellent thermal stability (Fig. S7). TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF exhibited outstanding wettability, with the contact angle decreasing to 37.3° within 0.1 s (Fig. S8). This pronounced hydrophilic behavior makes TAPP-TZ-OMe-COF an ideal candidate for the efficient separation of AuCl
4− from aqueous solutions.