Porous single crystalline ZnO nanoplates were successfully synthesized through a facile and cost-effective hydrothermal process at low temperature condition, followed by annealing of the zinc carbonate hydroxide hydrate precursors. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements. The porous single crystalline ZnO nanoplates are with 12 nm thickness and pore ranging from 10 nm to several tens of nanometers. The porous structure of the ZnO nanoplates caused large amount of surface defects which worked as photogenerated holes' shallow trappers and largely restrained the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, resulting in a significantly high photocatalytic activity and durability toward the photoreduction of Cr(VI) under UV irradiation. Moreover, a synergistic effect, that is, increased photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and degradation of phenol, can be observed. Furthermore, the synergistic photocatalytic mechanism has also been discussed. Those results present an enlightenment to employ porous single crystalline nanomaterials to remove Cr(VI) and organic pollutants simultaneously. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.