A novel photo/thermocatalyst was synthesized using co-precipitation. The catalyst above was used to degrade the dye methylene blue (MB), via the processes of thermocatalytic degradation (TCD) and photo/thermocatalytic degradation (PTCD). The catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-Vis diffusion reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) technique, and the terephthalic acid photo-luminescence probing technique (TA-PL). Fe-doped Sr2Bi2O5 powder was found to exhibit a high thermocatalytic activity and a high photo/thermocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB. The TCD and PTCD MB removal efficiencies reached 92.6 and 98.8%, respectively. Furthermore, HO center dot and O2 center dot- were not found to be the predominant active radicals. Holes were found to be generated in both two TCD and PTCD; however, TA-PL and radical scavenger experiments indicated that more holes were formed in PTCD. This study discussed the probable thermocatalytic and photo/thermocatalytic mechanisms, finding them to be in good agreement with results. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.