Hollow mesoporous titania microsphere with low shell thickness/diameter ratio and high photocatalysis

► Hollow mesoporous titania microsphere (HTS) was fabricated in a sol-gel process by alternatively coating TiO2 precursor and PDDA onto cationic PS. ► The resultant uniform HTS features a low shell thickness/diameter ratio and a high specific surface area, and thus leads to a high photocatalysis. ► The functional synergy of cationic PS template and cationic polyelectrolyte PDDA layer was underlined. ► We expect that this approach can be extended to the production of other versatile mesoscopic hollow inorganic materials.