Crystalline tungsten oxide (WO3) nanorods with diameters of approximately 8 nm were prepared using SBA-15 mesoporous silica as a hard template and ammonium metatungstate as a tungsten source, which have larger surface area (ca. 90 m(2) g(-1)) than other WO3 materials and, therefore, exhibit superior photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of acetic acid under visible light irradiation after Pt loading.