One-dimensional BiOCl/PAN composite nanofibers which are composed of bismuth oxychloride (BiOC1) nanosheets on electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were fabricated by combining electrospinning technique and solvothermal method. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-vis diffuse reflectance, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis, were used to characterize the as-fabricated BiOCl/PAN composite nanofibers. The results revealed that BiOC1 nanosheets were successfully immobilized on electrospun PAN nanofibers. The contents of the BiOC1 nanosheets were controlled by adjusting the precursor concentrations for the fabrication of BiOCl/PAN composite nanofibers during the solvothermal synthesis processes. It was found that some interactions might exist between BiOC1 and PAN molecules of BiOCl/PAN composite nanofibers. The obtained BiOCl/PAN composite nanofibers exhibited high photocatalytic activity for degradation of rhodamine B under ultraviolet light irradiation. The trapping experiments confirmed that the main active species for photocatalysis was hydroxyl radicals, which was produced by both the oxidative pathway and reductive pathway. Notably, the BiOCl/PAN composite nanofibers photocatalysts not only had good reusable property because of their one-dimensional structure and flexibility but also retained high photocatalytic stabilities after several cycles due to the interaction between BiOC1 and PAN molecules. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.