Mesoporous phosphonated titania hybrid material was prepared with the use of aminotri(methylene phosphonic acid) as the coupling molecule and triblock copolymer F127 as the template, possessing irregular mesostructure formed by nanoparticle assembly of crystalline anatase phase. The phosphonate groups were homogeneously anchored on the mesoporous titania, allowing monolayer adsorption of Zn2+ by extensive coordination with the organic bridging groups. The highly dispersed photoactive ZnO components were then obtained by low-temperature annealing of the Zn2+ adsorbed mesoporous phosphonated TiO2, which exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity with high stability in photo-degradation of Rhodamine B under both UV and visible light irradiation. In comparison with the pristine mesoporous phosphonate titania, the commercial titania P25, and the ZnO/mesoporous titania prepared by the conventional impregnation, the superior photocatalytic performance and stability of the coupled catalyst of ZnO nanoparticles highly dispersed on the mesoporous phosphonated titania might be due to the coupling effect, the well-defined mesoporosity and the incorporation of phosphonic moieties into the TiO2 network, presenting the potential applications in the fields of environmental remediation and solar cells. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.