Vanadium doped TiO2-based nanosheets (V-TNSs) with different V/Ti ratios were prepared by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method using vanadium nitrate and P25 as the vanadium precursor and titanium precursor, respectively. The results indicated that as-synthesized photocatalysts exhibited sheet-like structure with large specific surface area (270-340 cm(2)/g) and small thickness (4-5 nm). XPS results revealed that vanadium exists in the form of V-41 and V-51, and the binding energies of Ti-O bonds have been changed with the concentration of vanadium. Vanadium doping resulted in considerable enhancement of visible light absorption, red-shift, and the band-gap of photocatalysts reduced from 3.18 eV to 2.91 eV. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations for band structure and total energy also provided a good explanation and further confirmation for the experimental results. It has been found that the photo-activity increased gradually with the concentration of vanadium, and then decreased after attaining a maximum with an optimal content of vanadium at 1.0 at.% for RhB or Cr(VI). The reaction rate K-app of 1.0%-V-TNS5 are 9.27-fold and 3.26-fold as compared to undoped TNSs under UV-vis and visible light irradiation, respectively. The cyclic tests that performed six times demonstrated high stability and reusability of the photocatalysts. A possible alternate mechanism for the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation was also proposed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.