<p>Dye contamination in water is an emergent environmental issue, primarily stemming from industrial activities such as textile, leather, coloring, printing etc. Treatment of industrial effluent by adsorption and photocatalytic degradation has been proven to be a potential technique for effective abatement of colored pollutants. Gelatin hydrogel and ZnO-CuFe₂O₄ nanocomposite incorporated gelatin hydrogel was prepared via free radical polymerization technique to achieve improved photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye and used in environmental applications. Characterization of the synthesized samples was carried out using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and Thermogravimetric Analysis-Differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC). Surface charge and colloidal stability of prepared samples are measured by Zeta potential value. Quantitative elemental analysis and topography of the synthesized samples were examined by SEM-EDS color mapping. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis confirmed the porous nature and high surface area of the synthesized materials, supporting its photocatalytic efficiency. The results suggested that the synthesized hydrogel nanocomposite possess excellent swelling behavior, reaching up to 1548%, and exhibits significant photocatalytic efficiency with 92% MB dye removal, following pseudo-first-order kinetics. Furthermore, regeneration study showed better reusability after three consecutive cycles. The degradation pathway of MB dye was studied using mass spectrometry. Fluorescence spectroscopic analysis indicates the effective interaction between the nanocomposite and the polymeric matrix, suggesting its wide applications in areas such as biosensing, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wastewater treatment. Therefore, the nanocomposite-incorporated hydrogel emerged as a promising material for the effective removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous media.</p>