Well-dispersed uniform CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were prepared and then coated by MgO through thermal decomposition of a metal organic salt in organic solvent. Then CoFe2O4/MgO were reduced in a H-2/N-2 mixture gas and subsequently oxidized in an ambient atmosphere in order to build CoFe2/CoFe2O4/MgO architectures with high magnetization, good chemical stability and dispersivity, which are useful in some practical applications. MgO can be dissolved by the HCI solution. The surfaces of CoFe2O4, CoFe2/MgO, CoFe2 and CoFe2/CoFe2O4 magnetic particles were functionalized by TiO2 to prepare the magnetically separable photocatalysts. The rattle-type particles were obtained without the assistance of template and etchant. The photocatalytic activity of these photocatalysts in degradation of methylene blue and the magnetic separability were investigated: The nanosheet-shaped TiO2 and rattle-type particles exhibited good photocatalytic performance; The highest degradation efficiency reaches 93% for the CoFe2/TiO2 sample which has the highest magnetization value of 42 emu/g, beneficial for the recovery of catalyst after degradation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.