Highly photoactive iodine-doped titanium dioxide (I-doped TiO2) photocatalysts were synthesized to degrade aqueous bisphenol A (BPA) under irradiation by visible light and sunlight. The band gap energies of TiO2 and I-doped TiO2 (I/Ti mole ratio = 0.5%) were 3.01 and 3.04, and the BPA photodegradation rate constants were 1.61, and 5.11 h(-1), respectively. The most probable reaction mechanism was proposed to involve IO4- and IO3- as electron acceptors that generate an inductive effect, increasing the photocatalytic efficiency of TiO2. Results indicated that I-doped TiO2 not only acted favorably as a photocatalyst, but also exhibited considerable mineralization effects. In addition, a recycling test after ten experiments demonstrated the stability and reusability of the photocatalyst. (C) 2015 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.