A novel photocatalytic and antibacterial carbon nanofiber decorated with TiO2/ZnO composite NPs was prepared by a simple electrospinning method followed by calcination and hydrothermal treatment. The loading of a small amount of ZnO NPs throughout the fibers prior to electrospinning could provide nucleation sites for the crystal growth of ZnO from its precursor during hydrothermal synthesis and could effectively hold TiO2/ZnO particles on the surface of the fibers for better stability. The morphology and structure of the as-synthesized particles were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy, which revealed that TiO2/ZnO NPs were attached on the surface of the carbon nanofibers. The as-synthesized nanocomposite exhibited a strong photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) under UV irradiation and showed good antibacterial properties as well. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of the developed nanocomposite can be attributed to the adsorption characteristic of carbon nanofiber and the matched band potentials of TiO2 and ZnO. The perfect recovery of the catalyst after the reaction and its unchanged efficiency for cyclic use showed that it will be an economical and environmentally friendly photocatalyst. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.