The convenient reuse of photocatalysts is essential to the practical application in the degradation of organic pollutant. In this study, compact P-doped TiO2 film coated on ground glass substrate was easily achieved by layer-by-layer assembly technique. Thus such an elaborate complex system exhibited very convenient in recycling photocatalyst in the degradation of dye with high catalytic activity. The excellent performance of P-TiO2 film coated on ground glass substrates endows the assembled route potential in purifying waste water. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.