In order to immobilize TiO2 and prevent TiO2 nanoparticles from damaging polymeric supporters, the porous ZrxSi1-xO2 shell/void/TiO2 core particles (Zr-SVTs) were fabricated by the synergistic effect between nonionic surfactant P123 ((EO)(20)(PO)(70)(EO)(20)) and oleic acid (CH3(CH2)(7)CH=(CH2)(7)COOH) and cohydrolysis between TEOS and ZrOCl2 center dot 8H(2)O. Zr-SVTs were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, TEM, EDX and BET. The results show Zr-SVTs exhibit well-developed spherical shape with channels (approximately 5.5 nm in diameter) in porous ZrxSi1-xO2 shells. Moreover, the preparation conditions of Zr-SVTs were studied and confirmed, and the photocatalytic activity of Zr-SVTs was studied by photodegrading methyl orange in aqueous solution and oil in sewage containing oil. Alternatively, the photocatalytic activity of Zr-SVTs presents better result compared with SiO2 shell/void/TiO2 core (SVT) without doping Zr into the SiO2 shell, which further demonstrates that the ZrxSi1-xO2 shell could promote the mass transfer inside channels of Zr-SVTs. It suggests that Zr-SVTs with higher photocatalytic activity are desirable for application in water cleaning. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.