Silver-modified ZnO nanorods array has been prepared and the effect of silver modification has been studied. ZnO nanorods array were fabricated through a wet chemical route and a photo deposition method was taken to fabricate silver nano particulate on the ZnO nanorods. The structural and optical properties were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope, high resolution transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman, UV-vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The UV photocatalytic activity of these materials was studied by analyzing the degradation of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution. The photocatalytic performance indicated that Ag deposit acted as not only electron sinks to enhance the separation of photoexcited electrons from holes, but also charge carrier recombination centers, so the optimized amount of Ag deposit was investigated. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.