Blocking polymerization of CTFs induces plentiful structural terminations for synchronous removal of organics and Cr(VI).

Herein, an ultramild block polymerization strategy was employed to precisely control the exposure of structural terminations in the skeleton of covalent triazine-based frameworks (CTFs). The generated structural terminations with cyano (-CN) and hydroxy (-OH) groups (STCHs) could serve as not only the optimal adsorption sites for enriching targets, but also π-conjugated electron donor-acceptor dyads to accelerate the charge transfer. With spatial separation of charge localization sites, STCH-CTF exhibited a photoactivity of 2.5-4 times higher than that of pristine CTFs in the simultaneous oxidation of bisphenol A (BPA) and the reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(vi)).