Anodization of Ti-6Al-4V alloy in acetic acid aqueous solution resulted in the formation of amorphous oxide on its surface; the amorphous oxide transformed into crystalline oxide primarily consisting of anatase TiO2 by annealing. The annealed anodic oxide, especially those anodized in 1-2 mol L-1 acetic acid aqueous solution, could photocatalytically decompose acetaldehyde under visible light illumination. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy analyses showed that the vanadium is pentavalent and exists in an oxygen-tetragonal structure composed of VO43- units. When the vanadate absorbs visible light, the excited electrons move into the conduction band of anatase TiO2 so that recombination with holes was restricted. As a result, the anodic oxide exhibited superior photocatalytic activity under visible light illumination. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.