In this work, monodispersed silver nanoparticles decorated SiO2 nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning method, followed by thermal treatment at 600 degrees C. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the composite nanofibers. Accordingly, the detailed formation mechanism of SiO2/Ag composite nanofibers was discussed. Furthermore, an excellent catalytic activity of SiO2/Ag composite fibers was observed by a degradation reaction of methyl orange (MO) dye. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.