Nano-crystalline particles of visible light responsive Zn-Co ferrites having formula ZnxCo1-xFe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0) were successfully synthesized via reverse micelle technique. Sodium dodecyl sulfate was used as a surfactant/templating agent. The ferrite formation was confirmed using powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The spherical shape of the ferrite particles was established by High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HR-TEM) analysis. From the magnetic studies, the ferromagnetic nature of CoFe2O4 was known. However, the nano-particles exhibited a transition from ferromagnetic to super-paramagnetic upon increasing the zinc concentration. In addition, the photo-Fenton activity of ferrites was also studied by carrying out degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) dye under visible light irradiation. The catalytic activity increased with increase in zinc ion concentration. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.