To enable photocatalytic self-cleaning cotton fabrics working under visible light irradiation, platinum (IV) chloride modified TiO2 (Pt-TiO2) and N-TiO2 (Pt-N-TiO2) nanosols are synthesized through a low temperature precipitation-peptization strongly attach on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles, and accordingly enable functionalized cotton fabrics efficient visible light driven activities based on a mechanism of charge transfer from ligand to metal (CTLM) excitation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.