Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO Nps) and silver doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (Ag-ZnO Nps) were prepared using nitrates of zinc and silver as oxidizers and succinic acid as a fuel through solution combustion synthesis (SCS) at 400 degrees C. The synthesized materials were characterized by various analytical techniques such as XRD, FTIR, Raman UV-vis, PL, SEM, EDX and TEM. The synthesized nanomaterials were tested for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and the result reveal that Ag-ZnO Nps shows the better photocatalytic activity compared to undoped ZnO Nps. Biodiesel production from Simarouba oil shows that Ag-ZnO Nps acts as good catalyst compare to ZnO Nps, we have also developed sensor which showed a linearity in the concentration range 50-350 nM and limit of detection was found to be 3.5 and 3.8 nM (3 sigma) for lead and cadmium respectively. Further we have examined the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.