A simple and efficient procedure was developed to fabricate ZnO nanofibers by electrospinning and subse. quent calcination. With the hydrothermal method, Ag nanoparticles( AgNPs ) were deposited onto the surface of the ZnO nanofibers. Structure, composition and morphology of Ag/ZnO nanofibers were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction( XRD ), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy( XPS ), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy( EDX ), Scanning electron microscopy( SEM ) and transmission electron microscopy( TEM ). The results reveal that the diameters of ZnO nanofibers are between 80 and 330 nm, and the AgNPs attached to the ZnO nanofibers from the heterostructure are between 5 and 100 nm in size. The photocatalytic properties of Ag/ZnO nanofibers were verified by degradation of model compounds methyl orange, methylene blue and rhodamine B, and the Ag/ZnO samples showed efficient photocatalytic activity for the degradation of simulation pollutants.