Semiconductor with photocatalytic property is the potential solution to solve the problem about water pollution. Novel floriated AgBr/Bi2O3 fabricated through a facile simple two-step hydrothermal method is an efficient photocatalyst. The eminent performance for degradation of methyl orange (MO) was evaluated under visible light irradiation. Many characterization methods, including XPS, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TEM and UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy, were used to investigate the structure, elemental composition, morphology and catalytic activity. Broad contact between AgBr and Bi2O3 interface enabled hybrid materials possess superior efficiency for the decomposition of MO under visible light irradiation. The optimum photocatalytic activity of samples was approximately 11.7 times higher than pure Bi2O3. In addition, the photo-generated reactive species were identified based on free radicals trapping experiments, which revealed that superoxide radical is the key factor to the photocatalytic process. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.