Ag/ZnO composites were prepared by a simple hydrothermal approach, and characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX and XPS. The results of XPS revealed that the addition of AgNO3 to the reaction system reduces the concentration of vacancies and surface hydroxyl of ZnO. The photocatalytic activity of Ag/ZnO was tested with the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B. The results indicated that the influence of the structure of ZnO on the photocatalytic activity could be neglected comparing with that of deposition of Ag on the surface of ZnO. (C) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.