We present an innovative approach for synthesis of zinc oxide–graphene (ZnO–G) hybrid nanostructures through combination of improved hummer and arc discharge methods in liquid. A detailed study of the considerable visible-light photocatalytic activities of these nanostructures for the degradation of Phenol red (PR) and Methyl orange (MO) as standard organic compounds under the irradiation of 90 W halogen light for 2 h has been performed. The ZnO–G nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) and ultra violet–visible absorption spectroscopy (UV–vis). The results revealed that the ZnO–G nanostructures extended the light absorption spectrum toward the visible region and remarkably enhanced the photodegradation of standard dyes under visible-light irradiation. It has been confirmed that the ZnO–G nanostructures could be excited by visible-light (E ∼ 2.6 eV). The major enhancement in the photocatalytic activity of ZnO–G nanostructures under visible-light irradiation can be attributed to the effect of electron transport among ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and graphene sheets. A mechanism for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants over ZnO–G photocatalyst was proposed based on our observations.