The novel composite materials that can efficiently harvest multifunction will be critical in smart applications. In this work, the inorganic-organic hybrid TiO₂@PDA@CuO nanoparticles were prepared by a simple method and characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, Raman, BET, XPS, UV–vis and TGA analyses. The as-prepared TiO₂@PDA@CuO particles exhibit oval or polygon shape (∼30 nm). Effects of modifiers’ kinds, concentration, supports and modification time on wettable property of TiO₂@PDA@CuO were investigated initially. Next we demonstrated that the photocatalytic ability had an accelerated process after PDA loading on TiO₂ support. The gas sensing ability is another important application and this research covers its optimal operating temperature (260 °C), response time, recovery time and long-time stability.