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Transforming biological waste into high value-added materials is of significant importance to environmental protection and sustainable development of economy. Eggshell as a type of naturally occurring organic–inorganic biomaterials featuring a unique hierarchically porous structure has been widely investigated in the fields of catalysis and adsorption, as well as energy. Herein, CuO/ZnO/eggshell (CZ/ES) composites were rationally fabricated by using waste eggshell as a template. After a simple deposition and calcination process, the CuO and ZnO nanoparticles were evenly distributed over the surface of the CaCO3. The (photo)­catalytic activity and antibacterial properties of the nanocomposites were subsequently investigated. The results showed that the CZ/ES nanocomposite exhibited a superior catalytic reduction and antibacterial activity. The catalytic reduction reaction rate constant K app of 4-nitrophenol under the irradiation of UV–vis light was calculated to be approximately five times higher than that obtained in the absence of light irradiation. Besides, the CZ/ES nanocomposite exhibited significant antibacterial property for the destruction of E. coli and S. aureus. The enhanced performance in the (photo)­catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol and bacterial disinfection of CZ/ES may be attributed to the strong reactant absorbance capacity, large amounts of reaction sites, and improved separation efficiency of the electrons. Furthermore, the reaction mechanism of the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol was also discussed in detail.

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