Well-defined m-BiVO4 dendrites have been synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method without adding organic surfactant. A series of time-dependent experiments were conducted to investigate the shape formation mechanism of the m-BiVO4 dendrites. Furthermore, the corresponding growth mechanism which involved the Ostwald ripening process has been discussed. The m-BiVO4 dendrites showed great enhanced activity in the visible-light photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution which might be attributed to the special morphology. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.