Synthetic reevesite-like material as a visible light photocatalyst for the decontamination of water

[Display omitted] •Energy effective pathways for the removal of organic water pollutants are described.•Reevesite decolorized selected dyes within 15min of visible light irradiation.•Phenols were degraded with additional H2O2 in approximately 3h.•The photocatalyst becomes unstable at low pH. A synthetic reevesite-like material has been shown to decolorize selected dyes and degrade phenolic contaminants photocatalytically in water when irradiated with visible light. This material can photoactively decolorize dyes such as bromophenol blue, bromocresol green, bromothymol blue, thymol blue and methyl orange in less than 15min under visible light radiation in the absence of additional oxidizing agents. Conversely, phenolic compounds such as phenol, p-chlorophenol and p-nitrophenol are photocatalytically degraded in approximately 3h with additional H2O2 when irradiated with visible light. These reactions offer potentially energy effective pathways for the removal of recalcitrant organic waste contaminants.