Synthesis of Sb2S3-Sb4O5Cl2 composite used as a photocatalyst for crystal violet cationic dye degradation

•Sb2S3-Sb4O5Cl2 composite binary system was elaborated by a hydrothermal process.•SEM demonstrated that Sb2S3-Sb4O5Cl2 composite has microtubes morphology.•UV–visible analysis and absorbance measurements confirmed its photocatalytic removal of crystal violet (CV) dye.•The degradation efficiency of CV was up to 96.24% after 270 min of exposure to visible light. In the present paper, a new composite material namely Sb2S3-Sb4O5Cl2 has been prepared using the hydrothermal route and its photocatalytic properties for crystal violet dye removal from water were estimated. The prepared samples were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Visible measurements. XRD and SEM results confirmed that the desired binary composite system was successfully formed with distinctive morphology. The photocatalytic test proved that the prepared composite material could act as a sustainable photocatalyst for the tested dye removal. [Display omitted]