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The continuous discharge of organic dye effluents from textile industries causes severe global water pollution. A sustainable and effective route needs to be developed for the treatment of textile effluent in order to enable environmental protection and water recycling. In particular, the nanomaterials-based photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds is a promising approach to minimize water pollution. Herein, a facile hydrothermal method was reported for the preparation of Zn _2 GeO _4 nanorods (NDs) with unique size, shape, and surface chemistry using sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS) as the surfactant. The crystal structure, size, and shape of the synthesized NDs were characterized by x-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Initially, the XRD pattern revealed that SDS plays a crucial role in the formation of highly pure Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs with rhombohedral crystalline nature. It was clearly noticed that increasing SDS concentration results in the formation of Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs with decreased size ranges (100 nm). Conversely, the size of Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs increased at higher SDS concentrations. The photocatalytic activity of Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) in aqueous solution. Under light irradiation, the Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs prepared by using different concentrations of SDS exhibited varied photocatalytic performance. Among the tested samples, Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs prepared with 0.1 g of SDS showed the best photocatalytic activity with a MO decomposition rate of 94.6% within 60 min. This study suggests that SDS can be used to modulate the morphology and photocatalytic performance of Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs, and the resultant Zn _2 GeO _4 NDs can serve as a photocatalyst in wastewater treatment.