A new type of nanocomposites containing titania and gold were prepared via the coupling between exfoliated Ti0.91O2 nanosheets and surfactant-capped Au nanoparticles, followed by flocculation and calcination. After hybridization with Ti0.91O2 nanosheets, octahedral Au nanoparticles were embedded intimately into the matrix of titania, leading to abroad absorption peak assigned to surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect in the visible region. The obtained nanocomposite exhibited remarkably improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance compared to naked titania and conventional titania with photodeposited Au co-catalyst, due to the special SPR effect of the relatively large octahedral Au nanoparticles. Through control experiments, we demonstrated that the octahedral Au nanoparticles mainly functioned as local light intensifier and photon scattering agent. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.