Highly visible photoactive active Cu doped ZnO catalyst was prepared.
Catalyst was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, UV–vis–DRS and TGA analysis.
Cotton ball like nano structured was observed by FE-SEM analysis.
Prepared catalyst was completely degraded tri-azo dye under visible light.
Intermediates were identified by ESI-MS analysis and plausible mechanism provided.