A critical challenge that hinders
the application of perovskite
materials is their instability toward water and light. Herein, we
report lead-free bismuth halide perovskite nanocrystals encapsulated
by the covalent organic frameworks (PNCs–COFs) via an in situ
growth approach. The PNCs–COFs nanocomposites demonstrated
good water processability that originates from the hydrophobic COFs
shell. Furthermore, the COFs coating enables the formation of PNCs–COFs
heterojunction, which facilitates the generation and transportation
of photoinduced charge carriers. The PNCs–COFs were further
applied as photocatalysts for free-radical polymerizations, photoactivating
different coinitiators via both hole and electron transfer mechanisms
in aqueous and organic phases. The excellent photocatalytic performance
of PNCs–COFs was confirmed by high monomer conversion (up to
97.5%), diverse functional group tolerance and recyclability.