This research article explains the removal of methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG) from aqueous solution using adsorption/photodegradation activity of ZnO∶Ag/bamboo charcoal (BC) nanocomposite.In addition,the antibacterial studies of the prepared samples were tested against Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) Gram-positive and Escherichia coli (E.coli) Gram-negative bacteria by the well diffusion method.The ZnO∶Ag/BC nanocomposite exhibits superior photocatalytic activity compared with ZnO∶Ag.Remarkable degradation efficiencies of 93.95％ (MB) and 95.75％ (MG) were recorded for ZnO∶Ag/BC nanocomposite after 45 min.The degradation process follows a pseudo-first-order kinetics.The rate constant of ZnO∶Ag/BC nanocomposite is two times greater than that of pristine ZnO nanopowder for the degradation of MB dye,while for MG dye degradation,it is three times.It is found that the ZnO∶Ag/BC nanocomposite shows a higher rate of dye removal due to excellent adsorbing properties of bamboo charcoal (BC).The ZnO∶Ag/BC nanocomposite showed better antibacterial properties compared to ZnO∶Ag.In this study,the samples were prepared using a simple and low-cost soft chemical route and they were characterized by optical,structural,surface morphological,antibacterial and photocatalytic properties.These characterization studies substantiate the discussions on the photocatalytic and antibacterial activities of the synthesized samples.