In this study, a fly ash based composite, Ag-iron oxide/fly ash, was synthesized via a facile one-pot hydrothermal process using fly ash, ferrous chloride, and silver nitrate as precursors. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), EDX, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), Photoluminescence (PL) and Brunauer-Emmet t-Teller (BET) surface area measurement confirmed the formation of composite particle. FA provided a suitable surface for the in-situ deposition of Fe3O4 and Ag NPs during hydrothermal treatment. As a result, the particle size of Fe3O4 and Ag NPs was sufficiently decreased, and the surface area of the NPs as well as, a whole matrix was increased. The antimicrobial activity of the composite was accessed by Escherichia coli inhibition assay. Lead(II) ion adsorption efficiency of the composite was analyzed from a series of batch adsorption experiments (the effects of concentration, contact time, pH and adsorbent dose on the adsorption of Pb(II) ion from aqueous solution). Results indicated that as-synthesized composite has high antibacterial capacity, and the metal ions uptake efficiency compared to fly ash particle. Furthermore, incorporation Fe3O4 NPs onto the fly ash make it easily separable from a reaction system using an external magnet. The composite synthesis protocol is a simple method that utilizes a readily available industrial byproduct to produce a unique composite for environmental remediation. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.