Abstract:The palygorskite /Al-doped CdS composites (PGS/CdS-Al) were prepared by solvothermal method. The structure, morphology and optical properties of the composite materials were characterized to us XRD, XPS, SEM, UV-Vis DRS and PL. Al element was successfully doped into the lattice of CdS and the crystal structure of CdS didn't destroy. But the band gap of CdS was widened. Under visible light illumination, PGS/CdS-Al had photocatalytic degradation activity for organic dyes, such as malachite green, methylene blue, methyl orange, crystal violet and rhodamine B. And the best photocatalytic degradation effect was rhodamine B. The photodegradation rate was 98.7% when 0.67 g/L 15% PGS/CdS-Al was added to Rhodamine B solution (30 mL, 20 mg/L) under the light illumination for 40 min. Holes were the main activity group in photocatalytic reaction. The photodegradation reaction followed the first order kinetics and the rate constant was 0.0065 min-1.