CaZrTi2O7 photocatalyst sample was prepared by a polymerizable complex method. The photocatalyst was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence emission spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, N-2 adsorption measurements, and terephthalic acid probed fluorescence technique. The photocatalytic activity of the sample was evaluated by photocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange and photocatalytic reduction of Cr2O72- and nitrobenzene. The results showed that when the reaction solution was illuminated by UV light for 50 min, the photooxidation efficiency of methyl orange and the photoreduction efficiency of Cr2O72- were 83.1% and 87.9%, respectively. When methanol was used as the holes scavengers and the illumination time was 10 h in the photocatalytic reduction experiment of nitrobenzene, the production efficiency of aniline was 70.3%. The effect of the heat treatment conditions on the photocatalytic activity was also investigated. The optimum preparation condition for CaZrTi2O7 sample is 800 degrees C for 12 h. The mechanisms of influence on the photocatalytic activity of the sample were also discussed with the valance band theory. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.