A photocatalyst of graphene oxide (GO)/Ag3PO4 with excellent photocatalytic activity over decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) under visible light irradiation

•A series of GO/Ag3PO4 photocatalysts with different GO content were synthesized by ion exchange-chemical precipitation method.•The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of BDE-209 with GO/Ag3PO4 is 3 times that over pure Ag3PO4 under visible light.•The degradation of BDE-209 with different react conditions (photocatalyst dosage and pH) were investigated.•GO played significant role in the enhanced photocatalytic activity and photocatalytic mechanism were proposed.