A novel phosphor-doped titania in an anatase phase colored yellow was prepared by a simple modified sol-gel method with hypophosphorous acid as precursor. The as-prepared P-doped titania shows a narrower band gap than pure titania and an absorption tail in the visible range, which results in its effective photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol under visible-light (> 420 nm) irradiation.