The increasingly ubiquitous release of emerging refractory pollutants into water is a serious concern due to associated risks. In this study, mesoporous hierarchical BiOBr/Fe3O4@SiO2-a solvothermally synthesized visible-light-driven magnetic photocatalyst-not only exhibited fast kinetics (t(1/2) = 8.7 min) in the photo catalytic degradation of ibuprofen in water but also achieved almost complete mineralization over a prolonged irradiation of 6 h. Various reactive species, including center dot O-2(-), center dot OH, and H2O2, were detected, while the scavenging experiments revealed that e(CB)(-)-mediated reactions and direct-hole oxidation are the major degradation routes. The magnetically recycled BiOBr/Fe(3)O4@SiO2 maintained similar to 80% of its initial photocatalytic activity even after five consecutive cycles. The typically copresent wastewater constituents, including NOM and anions, inhibited the photocatalytic performance to varying extents, and hence necessitated an increase in the photocatalyst dosage to achieve complete ibuprofen degradation in real sewage. Based on the findings of batch experiments, the process was scaled up by developing a 5 L prototype photocatalytic reactor integrated with an electromagnetic separation unit. The results of prototype photocatalytic experiments were comparable to those of batch experiments, and an electromagnetic separation efficiency of similar to 99% was achievable in 5 min.