SnO2 with different Co2+ doping concentrations (0.050, 0.075 and 0.10 M), and Co (0.075 M): SnO2/corn cob activated carbon (Co: SnO2/CCAC) were prepared, and are labelled CS1, CS2, CS3 and CS2/CCAC respectively. The CS2/CCAC showed that the particle size is reduced (16.29 nm) with Co2+ doping and CCAC loading. Moreover, CS2/CCAC indicate that the decreased PL intensity and its lower value (2.156 Ω) of impedance from EIS results and increased separation of the photogenerated e−/h+ pairs. Thus, the result showed that CS2/CCAC possesses improved photocatalytic efficiency (95.38 %) as compared to other samples. The photocatalytic mechanism of CS2/CCAC also is discussed.