Photocatalytic TiO2 degrades organic matter unselectively. However, in certain applications, such as degradation of pollutants, selectivity towards pollutants is beneficial. We synthesized core@shell TiO2@SiO2 nanoparticles with photo catalytic activity featuring a significantly faster preferential degradation of model pollutant (rhodamine B) in presence of abundant concentration of natural organic matter compared to pure TiO2 (P25). The material's photocatalytic activity was tested in aqueous medium. The selectivity of prepared effect of core@shell materials is explained based on transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption, X-ray powder diffraction and zeta potential measurements. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.