Preparation of ternary photocatalysts and their application in the degradation of 1,4-dioxane using O3/UV/photocatalyst process

•The TiO2/ZnO/Mg(OH)2 photocatalyst was prepared and used for 1,4-D degradation.•TZM-400 can achieve nearly 100% in degradation and 84.37% in mineralization for 1,4-D.•TZM-400 photocatalysts have shown the reusability to degrade 1,4-D for five cycles.•The degradation pathway of 1,4-D was proposed and the intermediates were identified.