The deterioration of water supply quality due to the waterborne bacteria is an environmental problem requiring the urgent attention. Due to the excellent and synergic antimicrobial capability, Ag-loaded TiO2 photocatalyst emerges as a feasible measure to guard the water. In our work, Ag nanoparticles have been prepared by the photoassisted reduction of AgNO3 on the TiO2 film fabricated by solution-based adsorptive self-assembly approach. The role of surfactant on the growth rate and size controlling of particles is also studied. In this connection, different kinds of surfactants, such as PVP, Tween-20, Tween-40 and so on, are applied in the system to investigate the formation of Ag nanoparticles. The surface profile and elemental analysis of Ag/TiO2/SiO2 films are examined by scanning electron microscopy and attached energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. In the anti-bacteria detection, Ag nanoparticles are found to enhance the bactericidal efficiency strongly comparing with the pure TiO2 film under the same condition. In addition, by comparison with Ag/TiO2/SiO2 film in the dark environment as the reference experiment, UV-visible light plays a vital role in the improved bactericidal behavior, demonstrating the more efficient charge separation induced by metal silver. Because of the versatility of the method, the present photoreductive route is also exploited for the synthesis of Au nanoparticles on TiO2/SiO2 films. The corresponding photocatalytical detection results demonstrate the loading of Au nanoparticles can improve the photodegradation efficiency of methyl orange assigned to the similar electron-trapping effect to silver. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.