Rational manipulation of composition and construction toward Zn/Co bimetal hybrids for electromagnetic wave absorption

•Zn@Co and Co@ Zn/Co bimetal hybrids were fabricated by bi-orientation etching strategy.•The components and constructions are regarded as major factors determining electromagnetic properties.•The RLmin and fE of Zn@Co-C-2h reached −34.99 dB and 5.52 GHz (2.00 mm), respectively.