Dispersive carbon-coupling ZnO particles (C/ZnO) with smaller particle sizes and higher specific surface area were produced using a method combining precipitation and combustion techniques. Glucose was added in the production procedure to act as fuel to conduct combustion reaction and as source to form tiny carbon particles in the C/ZnO. Physical and chemical properties of the prepared C/ZnO particles were investigated and photocatalytic abilities of these particles to photocatalytically decompose the methylene blue in water under 365-nm UV light irradiation were kinetically studied. The prepared C/ZnO particles exhibited higher photocatalytic ability than the ZnO particles and the P25. The C/ZnO particles calcined at 900 degrees C possessed the best photocatalytic performance and had a reaction rate constant (k(m)) of 0.859 L.(g.min)(-1), which exhibited much higher photocatalytic ability than the ZnO calcined at 700 degrees C (k(m)=0.326 L.(g.min)(-1)) and the P25 (k(m)=0.371 L.(g.min)(-1)). (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.