A facile and efficient approach for the fabrication of Fe3O4@TiO2 nanocomposites with a good core-shell structure has been demonstrated. The approach employed involved the coating of successive titania shell on Fe3O4 core using a mixed solvent method with the catalysis of ammonia followed by the crystallization of TiO2 through solvothermal method. The as-obtained core-shell structure was composed of a central Fe3O4 core with a strong response to external fields, whereas the outer titanium oxide coating was useful for the degradation of organic contaminants. The results showed that Fe3O4@TiO2 nanocomposites exhibited high degree of crystallinity, excellent magnetic properties at room temperature. Furthermore, the as-prepared Fe3O4@TiO2 nanocomposites exhibited good photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution, which meant that they can be used as efficient and conveniently recoverable photocatalysts. In addition, the mechanism of coating by ammonia catalysis was also investigated. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.