The titania modified inner surface of mesoporous silicate MCM-41 was synthesized for the first time by varying titanium precursors and calcined MCM-41. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, nitrogen adsorption-desorption at 77K and solid state diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy. XRD suggested that a long-range order was still present in the hexagonal phase of the titania modified MCM-41 and were free of crystalline TiO~2. titania cocondensed with the pendant OH groups of MCM-41 via SI－O－Ti bonds and thus modified the inner walls. The titania in the modified MCM- 41 existed as a monolayer on the inner walls according to the results of nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. In solid state UV-vis spectra, the titania modified MCM-41 had significant blue shift compared to bulk TiO~2 due to the well known quantum size effect. The photocatalytic properties of the titania modified MCM-41 were tested in the decomposition of phenol.

Key words: TITANIUM DIOXIDE, MOLECULAR SIEVE, PHOTOCATALYSIS, X- RAY DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS, FOURIER TRANSFORM, INFRARED SPECTROPHOTOMETRY