Zinc oxide nanoparticle was obtained by zinc hydrate deposited on the silica nanoparticle surface and zinc hydrate was dispersed in starch gel. The structure of zinc oxide particle was characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption and XRD, the morphology was observed by TEM. The result showed that the zinc oxide nanoparticle deposited on the silica nanoparticle surface was well-dispersed and less than 50 urn, displayed higher photocatalytic activity for methylene blue degradation. However, the zinc oxide nanoparticle in a size of 60 nm, was derived from starch gel and showed poorer photocatalytic activity. It provided a simple and effective route to prepare zinc oxide nanoparticle with higher photocatalytic activity through depositing zinc oxide on the silica particle surface, moreover, the catalyst is easier to recover due to its higher density. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.