The technique of liquid phase deposition (LPD) was developed for the preparation of tungsten doped TiO2 (W-TiO2) films in this study. The doped films were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The UV-vis spectra showed that the films extended the absorption wavelength into visible light range after being doped with 1-7% (at.%) content of W. Under the illumination of visible light, the W-TiO2 film showed a sensitive photocurrent response. Accordingly, the visible light photocatalytic degradation of dodecyl-benzenesulfonate (DBS) was tested and 5% W-TiO2 film showed the highest degradation efficiency up to 84.8% after 4-h treatment. When +1.0 V anodic bias potential and visible light were simultaneously applied, the degradation efficiency of DBS over the 5% W-TiO2 film was significantly improved to 92% after 90 min. The effects of anodic bias potential, initial pH value, and initial concentration of DBS on the PEC degradation of DBS were investigated. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.