CuO NPs were planned to synthesize using Abutilon indicum (A. indicum) leaf aqueous extract as an ecofriendly source without any harmful chemicals like other physio-chemical methods. The ecofriendly synthesized shape controlled CuO NPs is further processed for several characterization tools to identify the morphology and its physical nature. Synthetic methodology was optimized using RSM technique. The characterization output results in crystalline rod shaped CuO NPs with 23±2 nm. Further, CuO NPs were screened for degradation study against harmful azo dye. The results indicates that the higher degradation rate in both the extract and synthesized CuO NPs, around 95.48 % degradation of dye using CuO NPs was identified using Pseudo first order reaction kinetics are being clearly stated in this manuscript. Furthermore, examination of CuO NPs in the direction of photocatalytic behaviour was optimized through taguchi methodology. © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim