TiO2 nanocrystals modified by ethoxy groups were prepared by a facile nonhydrolytic solvothermal method and characterized by XRD, TEM, TG-DTA and XPS, which showed an enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity on the degradation of Rhodamine B compared with TiO2 modified by benzyloxy groups and the "naked" TiO2. The adsorption and degradation pathway of Rhodamine B on TiO2 modified by ethoxy groups were also investigated. The zeta-potential (zeta) results showed that the TiO2 modified by ethoxy groups had high negative surface charge, which incited the positive -N(Et)(2) group of RhB absorbing on the TiO2 surface and preferably led the N-dealkylation pathway under visible light irradiation. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.