The N-doped NaTaO3 catalysts with cubic morphology had been successfully synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method, using Ta2O5 and NH3 center dot H2O as the raw materials for the first time. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra. The results showed that the synthesis parameters such as reaction temperature and reaction time played important roles in the formation of N-doped NaTaO3 nanocubes. As observed by SEM images, when the reaction time reached 12 h, most of the products exhibited the square morphology with the size of 200-500 nm, which can be easily removed by filtration after photocatalytic reaction. The photocatalytic activity of N-doped NaTaO3 was tested by Methylene Blue degradation process under ultraviolet and visible light irradiation, respectively. The results showed that both under the ultraviolet and visible light irradiation, N-doped NaTa03 displayed much higher photocatalytic activity than that of pure NaTaO3. In addition, NaTaO3-xNx composites exhibited excellent stability in the visible-light photocatalytic process. (c) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.