The hierarchical porous bismuth tungstate (Bi2WO6) microcoins constructed by nanoplates have been successfully fabricated via a facile hydrothermal method with the assistance of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA). X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were carried out to investigate the influences of NTA content on the morphology and microstructure of Bi2WO6. The results demonstrated that NTA has significant effect on the diameter and morphology of Bi2WO6. When the content of NTA is 0.8 g, Bi2WO6 exhibited a hierarchical porous coin like structure that consisted of numerous interconnected nanoplates with the diameter of approximately 50 nm. The corresponding growth mechanism also has been proposed and discussed. Moreover, due to the unique hierarchical porous structure and narrow band gap energy, Bi2WO6 with 0.8 g NTA sample exhibited the superior photocatalytic activity to the degradation of Rhodamine.B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.