Black nanostructured Bi OCl microspheres were directly synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The black balllike Bi OCl microspheres and black flower-like Bi OCl microspheres were obtained using different surfactant.The color of the Bi OCl microspheres turned from black to white when being annealed at 400℃ in air for 3 h and could be recovered to black by exposure to ultraviolet light for a few hours. The photocatalytic activity of both the black and the white Bi OCl microspheres was characterized by the photo-degradation of methyl orange dye under visible light irradiation. The black ball-like nanostructure Bi OCl displayed the best photocatalytic activity, compared with the white Bi OCl and the black flower-like Bi OCl. It can degrade the methyl orange dye to 20% within 70 min under visible light irradiation. The high activity of the Bi OCl ball-like sphere may own to its special morphology, strong absorption in visible light range and the existence of oxygen vacancies. Black nanostructured Bi OCl microspheres were directly synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The black balllike Bi OCl microspheres and black flower-like Bi OCl microspheres were obtained using different surfactants. The color of the Bi OCl microspheres turned from black to white when being annealed at 400 ℃ in air for 3 h and could be recovered from black exposure to ultraviolet light for a few hours. The photocatalytic activity of both black and the white Bi OCl microspheres was characterized by the photo-degradation of methyl orange dye under visible light irradiation . The black ball-like nanostructure Bi OCl displayed the best photocatalytic activity, compared with the white Bi OCl and the black flower-like Bi OCl. It can degrade the methyl orange dye to 20% within 70 min under visible light irradiation. The high activity of the Bi OCl ball-like sphere may own to to its special morphology, strong absorption in visible light range and the existence of oxygen vacancies.