An adsorptive photocatalyst composite based on Ag/AgCl and activated carbon was proposed and investigated. The prepared composite was synthesized using impregnation-precipitation-photoreduction, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission and scanning electron microscopies, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N-2 sorption, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry. The photoactivity of the composite was studied for the degradation of methyl orange and phenol under visible light. A mechanism for synergistic adsorption and photocatalysis by Ag/AgCl-AC was proposed, where the silver acts as the electron/hole generator, and polarization of the photoinduced charges relative to AgCl facilitates electron-hole separation, while the AC works to concentrate the pollutant around the active sites. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.