Titania nanotubes represent exciting opportunities in solar cell, sensing, and catalytic applications. In this work, four different surface polishing conditions: as-received, chemical polishing, mechanical polishing, and electropolishing, are studied in order to understand the effect of different surface conditions on the anodization process and nanotube morphology. At the same anodization condition of 100V in 0.1 M NH4F ethylene glycol at 0 degrees C for 3 min, the as-received and mechanically polished samples show nanotubular surfaces while the chemically polished and electropolished samples have oxide layers on the top of the nanotubes. The nanotube morphologies, anodization current vs. time curves, and the bottom barrier layers are all related to the Ti surface conditions. The electropolished surface leads to the most homogeneous TiO2 nanotube formation. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.