In this paper, highly-ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNAs) were firstly fabricated by electrochemical anodization. Secondly, the as-prepared TNAs were used as precursors for hydrothermal treatment and large percentage of nanoparticles with special shape were achieved. Their photocatalytic activity was evaluated based upon the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye in the aqueous solution. In order to enhance the photocatalytic properties, we added a certain amount of AgNO3 solution (0.1M) in the hydrothermal treatment process and the experiment demonstrated that the addition of AgNO3 solution displayed an excellent improvement for the photocatalytic activity. Under sunlight irradiation, the methylene blue pollutant of 1×10−5M was almostly completely degraded by Ag -TiO2 nanoparticles within 300 min.