Self-organized, through-hole, and ordered nanoporous array layers are obtained by anodizing TixNb1-x (x = 0.3-0.7) alloys in nitric acid electrolytes by a rapid, direct, and exothermal method. The TiNb oxide nanoporous films consist of straight and uniform pores of diameters 10-30 nm, and the back side has uniform pores of diameters 20-60 nm. The pore spacing increases with increasing Nb content and nitric acid concentration. The process is remarkably reliable and reproducible. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.