Porous silver-modified ZnO microrods photocatalysts were synthesized through direct thermal decomposition of the Ag-doped zinctartrate precursor,which was prepared by homogeneous precipitation method at 80 °C for 2 h.The obtained samples were characterized by XRD,FTIR,TG?DTA and UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy.The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared porous Ag/ZnO microrods was tested with the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange.The results indicate that doping Ag greatly improves the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO and 3% Ag-doped(mole fraction) ZnO porous microrod photocatalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic decolorization efficiency,leading to as much as 80% reduction of MO concentration in 120 min.Moreover,the 3% Ag-doped porous microrods also possess higher photocatalytic activity under the real sunlight irradiation.