We fabricated a ZnO shell on mesoporous Si02 (ZnO/Si02) particles with diameters of 250-500 pm using atomic layer deposition. This structure showed a higher adsorption capacity for methylene blue than bare mesoporous Si02. Moreover, the ZnO/Si02 saturated by methylene blue could be easily separated from the aqueous solution and regenerated upon UV exposure by the photocatalytic activity of ZnO for decomposing adsorbed methylene blue. This system can be used for efficiently removing organic pollutants from water by adsorption under dark conditions and photocatalytic regeneration, i.e., organic pollutants in water can steadily be removed under alternating dark-light conditions. 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.