Construction of two cobalt based bi-functional metal-organic frameworks for enhancing electrocatalytic water oxidation and photocatalytic disposals of hazardous aromatic dyes

•Produce novel Co-based MOFs that possess analogous layered stacked structure.•Require only 1.2 V@2.93 mA cm−2 and 1.5 V@2.78 mA cm−2 for full water splitting.•Exhibit efficient photocatalytic degradation abilities towards MB/MV in aqueous solution.