A novel visible light-driven environmental-benign Ag3PO4/SBA-15 nanocomposite photo-catalyst was synthesized for the photo-degradation of pollutants. The exploration on adsorption and photo-catalysis of dye or organic pollution for the nanocompo site was carried out. The adsorption capability for Ag3PO4/SBA-15 nanocomposite increases by 3 times compared with that of the Ag3PO4 particles. The photo-catalytic activity of nanocomposite is higher than pristine Ag3PO4 nanoparticle for the degradation of RhB or MO under visible light irradiation (lambda > 420 nm). The effect of Ag3PO4 loading on the catalytic performance was also studied. The results show that the optimum degradation is achieved over 20% Ag3PO4/SBA-15. Compared to pure Ag3PO4 nanoparticle, the most efficient catalyst showed 8 times higher photo-catalytic activity for the degradation of RhB. The Ag3PO4/SBA-15 catalysts were systematically characterized by Xray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and N-2-adsorption-desorption isotherms (BET). A possible mechanism scheme regarding photo-degradation enhancement induced by dye enrichments has been proposed on the Ag3PO4/SBA-15 nanocompo site. Additionally, the SBA-15 support can enhance the efficiency of separation of catalyst from the reaction mixture, implying that the Ag3PO4 loading on the SBA-15 catalyst will not result in the extra environment and health problems and reduce the cost of wastewater treatment. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.