In this work, we present a new, facile and low-cost method to synthesize TiO2-wood charcoal composites photocatalysts (denoted as TiO2-WC) by using the wood tissue as charcoal resources and bio-template. TiO2-WC was prepared by the dip-sol-gel method, which was followed by calcination. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N-2 adsorption/desorption measurement, element analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that titania particles of 10-20 nm were dispersed on the wood charcoal which had a mimicked wood tissue structure. And the titania in composites was found to be composed of 75-80 wt% anatase and 20-25 wt% rutile. The mass ratios of wood charcoal in TiO2-WC were 28.20-39.94 wt%. The adsorption ability and photocatalytic activity of the prepared TiO2-WC composites were evaluated by the removal ratio of bisphenol A (BPA). The results showed that the prepared TiO2-WC composites had extraordinary adsorption ability for BPA and good photocatalytic activity. The hydrophobic BPA in water can be efficiently removed by adsorption and photocatalytic degradation on TiO2-WC composites synergistically. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.