This paper reports on highly active ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /reduced graphene oxide (ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /rGO) nanocomposites synthesized by a modified sol-gel method. The as-prepared samples have been characterized by XRD, TEM, XPS and other detection methods, which demonstrate that ZnFe ₂ O ₄ nanoparticles (NPs) with a diameter of 15 ∼ 50 nm were densely grown on the rGO substrates. The photocatalytic activities of ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /rGO catalysts were evaluated by the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) under visible light. The results showed that the ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /rGO catalysts had high photocatalytic activity, and the degradation efficiency of MB was almost 100% within 180 min. Moreover, the ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /rGO catalysts also had a great removal effect on Rhodamine B (RhB) and Methyl orange (MO). Mechanistic studies revealed that the rGO acted as a stabilizer to prevent ZnFe ₂ O ₄ from aggregation and improved the separation of photo-generated electrons. The high efficiency for dye degradation was attributed to the generation of hydroxyl radicals (·OH) via the photochemical decomposition of H ₂ O ₂ on ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /rGO catalysts, which was responsible for the oxidation of the dyes. Of note, the ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /rGO catalyst maintained an efficiency of over 90% after five cycles. The XRD, XPS and VSM characterization revealed that the ZnFe ₂ O ₄ /rGO catalysts had a stable crystal structure and can be easily separated.