It is shown that the surface morphology and the photoactivity of hydrothermally grown V2O5 films at 95 degrees C are greatly affected by the deposition time. Well-defined phase of V2O5 films grown for a deposition period of 2 h were found to exhibit significant photocatalytic activity, degrading stearic acid by 57%. The films presented a relatively porous structure, appearing as a wall-like network. The correlation of deposition period with the structure, morphology and the photoinduced properties of the materials are discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.