This is the first report of the effect of the ILs cation type (imidazolium, pyridinium and pyrrolidinium) on the morphology, surface properties and photoactivity of BiOX semiconductors type obtained by solvothermal method in glycerol. The various ionic liquids (IL) cation type as a halogen source and templating agent for the synthesis of the bismuth oxyhalides nanoparticles has been systematically investigated. The role of ILs in synthesis of the semiconductors was loosening of the structure and increasing the particle size of semiconductors. It was also found that ILs increased specific surface area and pore volume of bismuth oxyhalides. Rhodamine B and 5-fluorouracil were used as the model contaminates to evaluate the adsorption capacity and photooxidation performance of studied BiOX. Removal of chromium (VI) from acidic solution were demonstrated photoreduction ability of BiOX. Generally the activity of bismuth oxyhalides was better for the samples prepared with ILs, although the increase in activity was different for various ionic liquids. The changes of band gap structure were major causes of the enhanced photocatalytic activity of bismuth oxyhalides with ILs as the halogen source.