Removing organic contaminants with bifunctional iron modified rectorite as efficient adsorbent and visible light photo-Fenton catalyst

► Rectorite was modified by ultrasonic-assisted ion-exchange and hydrolysis. ► The pillaring increased the layer-to-layer spacing of rectorite. ► The iron-modified rectorite was found to be an excellent adsorbent. ► The iron-modified rectorite showed good visible light photocatalytic ability. ► FeR was highly chemically stable with a wide operating range of pH.