In the work, CdMo1-xWxO4 solid solutions with various compositions in the entire range of 0 <= x <= 1 have been prepared successfully by a facile interfacial hydrothermal method. All CdMo1-xWxO4 products are composed of one-dimensional (1D) nanorods (NRs) with tetragonal structure. The composition-dependent structure, absorption properties and photocatalytic efficiencies of the resulting 1D CdMo1-xWxO4 samples are systematically investigated. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation was utilized as a model reaction to evaluate the photocatalytic activities of all the samples. The sample, CdMo0.5W0.5O4 (i.e., x = 0.5) NRs, exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity and appealing stability for widespread photocatalytic application, owing to the unique 1D nanoscale architecture, suitable band gap and strong absorption in the UV region. Our approach developed here provides an elegant technique to tune both the nanoarchitecture and band gap of the photocatalysts by simply adjusting the composition of the solid solutions, resulting in the enhanced photocatalytic activity. Moreover, the method we proposed can be further extended to the smart design and controllable synthesis of other novel and highly efficient multi-component photocatalysts for environmental remediation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.