A new ternary composite BiOIO3/MoS2/C500 was prepared via sol-gel and hydrothermal method. The energy bands, surface structures and optical properties of the as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, UV-vis DRS, BET, XPS, PL, ESR and electrochemical measurement. The density functional theory (DFT) was adopted to explore the capability as well. It is discovered that BiOIO3/MoS2/C500 possesses excellent Z-scheme heterostructure for separating photogenerated electron-hole pairs mainly provided by BiOIO3/MoS2, and large specific surface area as charge carriers transfer channel mainly provided by C500, which can accelerate charges to transfer to the surface reaction area for photocatalytic oxidation. Then, the ternary catalyst was utilized to remove gas-phase Hg-0 including its oxidation product, and possessed the highest removal efficiency of 78.32%, which is much higher than that of its pure component. Meanwhile, the photocatalytic activity of ternary catalyst are of high stability, and the product after the reaction is HgO and can be adsorbed on BiOIO3/MoS2/C500, which is detected by high resolution XPS. The loading manner provides a new vision for both photocatalysis and adsorption. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.