Linker engineering to regulate fluorescence of 1,3,5-tris(phenylacetylene)benzene-based covalent organic frameworks for white light-emitting diodes and information encryption and decryption

•A rigidity-flexibility combination strategy to edit luminescence of LCOFs was proposed.•A flexible fluorescent 1,3,5-tris(phenylacetylene)benzene with propeller-like conformation was as center skeleton.•Linkers with different rigidity and conjugation were used to the fluorescence of center skeleton.•1,3,5-tris(phenylacetylene)benzene-based LCOFs with different emission were synthesized.•Binary or ternary mixed LCOFs were used for white emission, WLEDs and information encryption/decryption.