<p>In this study, we have reported the synthesis of pure and Cu doped ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ nanocomposites by a simple coprecipitation method for efficient degradation of titan yellow and thiamethoxam contaminants under artificial and natural light. X-ray diffraction (XRD) verified the formation of ZnO and ZnFe₂O₄ components. For the pure ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ composite, the ZnO component exhibited a band-gap energy of 3.05 eV while that of ZnFe₂O₄ was 1.82 eV. The doping of ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ by Cu ions reduced the band-gap energy of ZnO and ZnFe₂O₄ to 2.7 and 1.62 eV, respectively. The incorporation of Cu ions into ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ effectively enhances its absorption properties toward visible-light spectrum. For pure and doped composites, the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed similar spherical particles having close to nanometer sizes. The photocatalytic activities of pure and Cu doped ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ composites were examined for removal of titan yellow dye and thiamethoxam insecticide. Under natural light, Cu doped ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ (20:80%) photocatalyst displayed a photodegradation efficiency of 97% towards 20 mg/L titan yellow and 94% towards 20 mg/L thiamethoxam after 70 min. Besides, the mineralization measurements of Cu doped ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ photocatalyst established the conversation of titan yellow and thiamethoxam contaminants to CO₂ and H₂O. The stability of Cu doped ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ photocatalyst was verified over five successive photodegradation tests.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>