PbMoO4 and SrMoO4 particles were successfully prepared via a simple solvothermal process. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and a photoluminescence technique with terephthalic acid. The as-prepared PbMoO4 samples show different photocatalytic activities for salicylic acid under UV light irradiation. PbMoO4 exhibits relatively high photocatalytic activity for salicylic acid, Rhodamine B and benzene. While, SrMoO4 possessing a similar structure to PbMoO4 shows negligible photocatalytic activity though they exhibit similar BET surface areas and morphologies. Theoretical calculations reveal that PbMoO4 contains higher dispersive valence and conduction bands than SrMoO4. The highly dispersive valence and conduction bands can lead to higher mobility of the photo-generated carries and therefore a better photocatalytic activity. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.