Low-temperature synthesis of mesoporous TiO2 photocatalyst with self-cleaning strategy to remove organic templates

► A low-temperature method is developed to prepare mesoporous TiO2 photocatalyst. ► A self-cleaning strategy is used to completely remove organic templates. ► The mild method favors to retain the original mesostructure. ► The prepared sample exhibits excellent photocatalytic property. ► The method is expected to prepare other mesoporous photocatalysts.