Effects of CeO2 or/and La2O3 addition on photo-generated hydrophilicity of TiO2/SiO2 film were investigated in this paper with the testing of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is found that appropriate amount of CeO2 or/and La2O3 is effective on the super-hydrophilic property of TiO2 because of the increase of oxygen vacancies. The super-hydrophilic property of the composite film becomes better during UV irradiation and it can maintain for a long time in the dark with the synergetic effect of rare earth oxides and SiO2. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.