In this study, bismuth oxyhalide(Bi OXs(X_Cl, Br, I)) semiconductors were prepared by a simple solvothermal method, with ethanol serving as solvent and a series of tetrabutylammonium halide surfactants as halogen sources. Under identical synthetic conditions, Bi OBr was more readily constructed into regular flower-like hierarchical architectures. The photocatalytic properties of the materials were studied by monitoring the degradation of rhodamine B(Rh B),with visible light absorption, and colorless salicylic acid(SA). It was found that both Rh B and SA were rapidly degraded on the surface of Bi OBr. Bi OCl was rather active for the degradation of Rh B,but ineffective toward the degradation of SA. However, neither Rh B nor SA could be degraded effectively in the case of Bi OI. Further experiments such as UV–visible spectroscopy and detection of U OH and O2 Uradicals suggest that the electronic structure of the Bi OX photocatalysts is responsible for the difference in their activities. In this study, bismuth oxyhalide (Bi OXs (X_Cl, Br, I)) semiconductors were prepared by a simple solvothermal method, with ethanol serving as solvent and a series of tetrabutylammonium halide surfactants as halogen sources. Under identical synthetic conditions, Bi OBr was more readily constructed into regular flower-like hierarchical architectures. The photocatalytic properties of the materials were studied by monitoring the degradation of rhodamine B (Rh B), with visible light absorption, and colorless salicylic acid (SA). It was found that both both Rh B and SA were rather degraded on the surface of Bi OBr. Bi OCl was rather active for the degradation of Rh B, but ineffective toward the degradation of SA. However, neither Rh B nor SA could be degraded effectively in the case of Bi OI . Further experiments such as UV-visible spectroscopy and detection of U OH and O2 Uradicals suggest that the electronic structure of the Bi OX photocatalysts are responsible for the difference in their activities .