Ionic liquid assisted ultrasonic method was developed to prepare BiOCl at room temperature in a short time. Through this method, BiOCl with different controllable morphologies can be easily obtained via the simple change of the reaction solvents. The flowerlike microspheres, sheet and plate morphologies have been prepared in DMF, ethanol and water, respectively. And the as-prepared BiOCl samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), N-2 absorption-desorption isotherms and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared samples was evaluated towards degradation of Rhodomine B (RhB), Quinoline blue (QB) and methyl orange (MO). The results indicate that the as-prepared BiOCl samples have high photoactivities for the degradation of dyes both under the visible light irradiation and sunlight irradiation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.