In this study, we report that highly water dispersible TiO2 nanocrystals could be synthesized via a facile nonaqueous sol-gel method using titanium tetrachloride and ethanol as the precursors. The resulting TiO2 samples were 5-10 nm in diameter according to characterizations with X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis revealed that carbonaceous species were formed and bound on the surface of TiO2 nanocrystals during the synthesis. These carbonaceous species could prevent the agglomeration of TiO2 nanocrystals and endow the TiO2 nanocrystals with highly water dispersible property and superior photocatalytic activity on the degradation of organic pollutant under visible light irradiation. We believe that the resulting TiO2 nanocrystals with highly water dispersibility and superior photocatalytic activity could find wide applications in many fields. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.