Novel nitrogen-doped Bi2WO6 (N-BWO) powders were synthesized by an ethylenediamine-assisted hydrothermal method. The obtained results indicated that the N-BWO powders are composed of microstructures self-assembled from single-crystalline nanosheets. The doped nitrogen was substituted for oxygen in the crystal lattice of Bi2WO6, causing a red shift (from 2.82 to 2.63 eV) for N-BWO powders compared to pure BWO. The as-synthesized N-BWO powders exhibited an efficient visible light-induced photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) in aqueous solution due to their enhanced visible light absorption and special layered microstructures. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.