The reduction of Cr(VI) was investigated in aqueous suspensions of BiOCl and Degussa P25 using a 355 nm laser radiation and conventional lamp. BiOCl showed better photocatalytic activity than Degussa P25 and similar to 95% Cr(VI) was reduced within short time (30 min) of laser exposure in presence of BiOCl without the use of any additive. Effects of critical parameters, such as laser energy, catalyst amount and chromium concentration on the photocatalytic reduction process were investigated. The photocatalytic removal of metal was fitted to first-order kinetic and reaction rate was estimated. Structural and compositional stability of BiOCl before and after photocatalytic reaction were determined by XRD, Raman, FT-IR, TGA/DSC analyses. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.