TiO2-SiO2 composite nanotubes were successfully synthesized by a facile sol-gel technique utilizing ZnO nanowires as template. The nanotubes were well characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, N-2 adsorption-desorption analysis and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The nanotubular TiO2-SiO2 composite photocatalysts showed diameter of 300-325 nm, fine mesoporous structure and high specific surface area. The results indicated that the degradation efficiency of gaseous toluene could get 65% after 4 h reaction using the TiO2-SiO2 composite as the photocatalyst under UV light illumination, which was higher than that of P25. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.