Bi2WO6 film has been successfully immobilized on reticular stainless steel substrate by a simple dip-coating method. The as-prepared film exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity induced by visible light (lambda > 420 nm) in decomposing textile dye and toxic gas, It possesses notable advantages in gaseous contamination decomposition especially in static system due to its large specific surface area which makes the catalysts and contaminants sufficiently contacted with each other. The advantages of the SiO2 coating on the iron substrates were discussed. It effectively prevented the diffuseness of charge carriers from the substrate to the Bi2WO6, which resulted in the enhanced photocatalytic activity. Moreover, the stability of the photocatalytic film is also good which makes it potential for practical application. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.