Ce-doped titania hollow spheres were prepared using carbon spheres as template and Ce-doped titania nanoparticles as building blocks. The Ce-doped titania nanoparticles were synthesized at low temperature. The prepared hollow spheres were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (DRS). The effect of Ce content on the physical structure and photocatalytic properties of doped titania hollow sphere samples was investigated. Results showed that there was an optimal Ce-doped content (4%) for the photocatalytic activity of X-3B degradation. The apparent rate constant of the best one was almost 31 times as that of P25 titania. The mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of dyes under visible light irradiation was also discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.