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[Display omitted] • Porous cPTA/CN nanorod was prepared by using PTA as both template and adhesive. • In such a nanocomposite, the CN nanolayer forms on the surface of cPTA nanorods. • cPTA/CN degrades 97% RhB in 80 min and 78% tetracycline in 3 h under visible light. • cPTA facilitates the photoinduced carrier separation and afford more active sites. • This study offers a generic method for making nanorod photocatalysts. Solar energy-driven photocatalysis has become a promising green technology to degrade organic pollutants discharged into water environment in recent years. In this study, a kind of novel cPTA/CN nanorod photocatalysts were prepared by using poly(tannic acid) as both template and adhesive, in which the g-C 3 N 4 (CN) nanolayer formed on the surface of carbonized poly(tannic acid) (cPTA) nanorods, similar to the adhesion of marine mussel foot silk protein on the solid surface. The porous cPTA/CN nanorods with about 400 nm in width and 2–4 μm in length can degrade 97% Rhodamine B within 80 min and 78% tetracycline within 3 h under visible light irradiation. Porous cPTA nanorods play an important role for promoting the photocatalytic activity, which can not only accelerate the separation of photogenerated carriers, but also afford more active sites and molecule diffusion channels. This kind of nanocomposite photocatalysts may find broad application potential in the treatment of organic pollutants in aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]