<p>In this work, a facile one-pot surfactant mediated hydrothermal method has been developed for the synthesis of well-defined Nd₂O₃-ZnO nanocomposite (NZ-NC) for the photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue (MB), a typical organic dye pollutant. The synergistic interaction between Nd₂O₃ and ZnO leads to a significant enhancement in photocatalytic activity of the produced nanocomposite under the UV light irradiation. The successful formation of well-organized NZ-NC structures was analyzed by various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-DRS). Moreover, the photocatalytic studies indicated that the NZ-NC achieved an outstanding degradation efficiency of 96.61% of MB dye at pH 8 with a catalyst dose of 20 mg and a rate constant of 0.02443 min^-1 under UV irradiation in 120 min. Moreover, the photocatalyst exhibited excellent reusability with high degrading efficiency for many cycles without any significant loss in activity. The findings highlight the potential of NZ-NC as an efficient photocatalyst for environmental remediation, particularly for the breakdown of organic pollutants in wastewater under UV light irradiation. This work demonstrates the benefits of the one-pot surfactant-mediated hydrothermal approach for the development of improved photocatalytic materials, promoting sustainable and scalable solutions for water purification and environmental protection.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>