In this study, ternary ZnO/BiOBr/C-Dots photocatalysts were successfully prepared by a simple strategy. Then, their characteristics such as structure, morphology, chemical, optical, textural, and photocatalytic performances were fully investigated. This study demonstrated that the ZnO/BiOBr/C-Dots nanocomposites showed remarkably increased photocatalytic performances compared with the ZnO and ZnO/BiOBr samples. In decolorization of RhB upon visible light, the highest activity was obtained when the volume of C-Dots was 0.25 mL, which was about 39.7 and 2.7 times premier than the ZnO and ZnO/BiOBr photocatalysts, respectively. In the ternary nanocomposites, the increased performance was mainly ascribed to the formed heterojunction between the counterparts, up conversion characteristics of C-Dots, and visible-light harvesting ability of BiOBr. The reactive species trapping experiments proved that O-center dot(2)- was the major species involved in the photocatalysis reaction. At last, the ternary nanocomposite displayed remarkable stability for recycling runs. (C) 2019 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.