Designing MOF-COF hybrid materials for energy, biomedical and environment applications

[Display omitted] •The applications of MOFs/COFs materials in photocatalytic field are reviewed.•The optical, electrical, and redox characteristics of the hybrid materials may change when MOF is added.•Photocatalytic capacity enhanced due to the ideal band matching and effectively promoting the charge separation.•Current challenges and future perspective of MOFs/COFs in photocatalytic energy and environment are described. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are two types of porous crystalline materials known for their high porosity and large specific surface area. Various methods have been developed to produce and modify these materials, enabling their application in diverse fields such as oxygen evolution reactions (OER), hydrogen evolution reactions (HER), organic pollutant degradation, CO2 reduction, gas adsorption and separation, and sensing. However, MOFs and COFs each present significant limitations. MOFs, for instance, often suffer structural collapse in aqueous environments, making them unstable, while metal-free COFs exhibit low catalytic activity and tend to lack specificity in their functions. Recent studies have introduced MOF-COF hybrid materials as a promising solution to overcome these shortcomings. By integrating the complementary properties of both frameworks, these hybrids offer enhanced performance across a wide range of applications. This review provides an overview of the advancements in MOF-COF hybrid materials over the past three years, with a focus on their synthesis methods, classifications, and potential uses in OER, HER, CO2 reduction, pollutant degradation, and sensing. Finally, the current challenges and future prospects are outlined, offering valuable guidance and a clear direction for emerging researchers in the field.