In this work, TiO2-CdS-gCNNSs heterojunction photocatalysts were successfully synthesized. CdS was deposited on the surface of gCNNSs via electrostatic attraction: Ti-O-C, Ti-O-C=O and Ti-O-N bonds were produced in TiO2-CdS-gCNNSs, strengthening the interaction between TiO2 and gCNNSs. The TiO2CdS-gCNNSs photocatalyst showed excellent photocatalytic activity for phenol degradation under visible light irradiation, which was higher than that of CdS-gCNNSs, CdS-TiO2 and TiO2-gCNNSs. The improved photocatalytic performance of TiO2-CdS-gCNNSs was ascribed to more adsorption sites, enhanced light harvesting ability and effective separation rate of electron-hole pairs. Furthermore, the results of photocatalytic mechanism indicated that h(+) and O-center dot(2)- played a more significant role on the phenol degradation. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.