The molecular/ions surface imprinted TiO2/fly-ash cenospheres photocatalyst was prepared by molecular imprinted technology with coordination compounds of La3+ and oxytetracycline as molecular template. The phase, surface structure and light absorption of as-prepared imprinted photocatalyst were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), respectively. The preferentially selected degradation and activity of imprinted photocatalyst were evaluated by degradation of different antibiotic waste water. The results indicate that molecular/ions surface imprinted photocatalyst could preferentially degradate tetracycline antibiotic molecular effectively and enhance the photocatalytic activity. The degradation rate of oxytetracycline ligand molecular could reach 76% in 60 min under visible light irradiation. The relatively coefficient of selectivity degradation on oxytetracycline could reach 4.5146 compared with the ciprofloxacin. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.