Novel BiOI hierarchical nanostructures with porous architecture was prepared at room temperature by an economical, facile and rapid route. The coupling adsorption and degradation efficiency of rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), and methyl orange (MO) could achieve 98.7%, 43.2%, 76.9% within 180 min in the presence of BiOI, respectively. BiOI hierarchical nanostructures also exhibit excellent effective biocidal performances, and the disinfection rate of the typical biofouling bacteria Bacillus sp. and Pseudoalteromonas sp. could reach 99.9% and 99.8% in 60 min, respectively. The circulate photocatalytic degradation of RhB experiment verified the good stability and reusability of BiOI hierarchical nanostructures. Based on active specie trapping experiments, the superoxide radicals (O-2(-)) and holes (h(+)) were proved to be the main reactive species in the BiOI-based system. The obviously enhanced coupling adsorption and photocatalytic degradation performance of BiOI hierarchical nanostructures could be mainly attributed to the large surface area (64.5 m(2)/g), negatively charged surface and the intrinsic electron structure. This study provides a new strategy to develop novel photocatalysts for water treatment and marine antifouling. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.