Bi2Zr2O7 was synthesized via a facile solution combustion method. Two different fuels, urea and tartaric acid were used in the synthesis, which resulted in Bi2Zr2O 7 crystals with different band gaps and surface areas. The structure has been determined by Rietveld refinement followed by the difference Fourier technique. The compound crystallizes in the space group Fm3m. The photocatalytic degradation of two dyes was carried out under solar radiation. Bi 2Zr2O7 prepared using urea as the fuel exhibits a higher photocatalytic activity than the compound prepared using tartaric acid and comparable activity to that of commercial Evonik P-25 TiO2. It is suggested that this is due to the oxygen vacancies occurring in the two cases, the urea based compound has an occupancy of 0.216, whereas the tartaric acid based synthesis shows disorder in the oxygen position amounting to a small number of oxygen vacancies. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2013.