In this work, the photocatalytic degradation of maleic anhydride (MAN) using Kronos TiO2 and nitrogen (N) and fluorine (F)-codoped TiO2 (NF-TiO2), synthesized by a fluorosurfactant based sol-gel method, was carried out under UV-visible light illumination. The effects of initial MAN concentration, catalyst loading, and initial pH on the photocatalytic degradation of MAN were investigated and it was found all these parameters influenced the kinetics of degradation. Comparative experiments were carried out with the optimal loading of 0.2 g L-1 Kronos and 0.6 g L-1 NF-TiO2 at different concentrations of MAN (80, 120, 200, and 360 mg L-1). It was found that Kronos and NF-TiO2 degraded MAN up to 98% and 83%, respectively, at pH 3.2 after 4 h of UV-visible light illumination. The results showed that 69% degradation of MAN was obtained at pH 7.0 in 4 h while it was observed that MAN degradation decreased at higher pH (similar to pH 10.5). MAN degradation rate based on surface area of NF-TiO2 (8.5 +/- 0.102 x 10(-5) mM min(-1) m(-2)) was higher than that of Kronos (7.38 0.088 x 10(-5) mM min(-1) m(-2)). Additionally, the effect of the addition of external oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and potassium persulfate (K25208) on the photocatalytic degradation of MAN was investigated; it was found that K25208 demonstrated synergistic effects on the degradation of MAN while H2O2 did not show any significant changes in MAN degradation rate. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.