A strategy to facilitate the sedimentation and bactericidal properties of polypyrrole for fluoride removal from water

•Ag@PPy composite nanofibers were successfully synthesized by one-step method without additional oxidant.•Ag@PPy composites exhibit adsorption capacity of 7.02 mg/g for fluoride and fast kinetics within 60 min.•High density of 3.27 g/cm3 makes the fine settlement performance of Ag@PPy composite from water.•Ag@PPy composites also show excellent bactericidal performance for the introduction of silver.