A magnetic adsorptive photocatalyst composite Ag/AgCl-magnetic activated carbon (A-MAC) was proposed and investigated. Magnetic activated carbon was prepared by impregnation of AC with silica-coated magnetite particles synthesized via chemical co-precipitation and a modified Stober process, and was then used to synthesize Ag/AgCl-MAC composites by a facile deposition-precipitation-photoreduction method. The prepared composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission and scanning electron microscopies, respectively, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N-2 sorption, and ultraviolet-visible light diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The magnetic properties of the composites were studied by superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, and they were found to exhibit quasi-superparamagnetic behaviour. The visible light induced photoactivities of the samples were studied for the degradation of model organic pollutants, methyl orange and phenol, and cyclic degradation experiments were performed by recovering the composite by magnetic separation between runs. The prepared composites were also found to possess good activity for photocatalytic disinfection, inducing a 3-log reduction in Escherichia coli K-12 in 40 min under irradiation. The incorporation of silica-coated magnetite into AC was thought to influence morphology in the final photocatalyst-adsorbent composites, and the role of silica in preventing iron oxide dissolution in the photoreactive system was investigated and discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.