Anodic oxidation was conducted to Ti-Nb-Sn biometallic alloy for the purpose of giving photo-induced properties without losing the low Young's modulus of the alloy. The anodic oxide consists of primary TiO(2) with small amounts of Nb(2)O(5) and SnO. Rutile-structured TiO(2) prepared in an electrolyte solution containing 1.2 M sulfuric acid exhibits photocatalytic activity and superhydrophilicity under ultraviolet (UV) light illumination, and superhydrophilicity in the absence of UV light illumination. The Young's modulus of Ti-Nb-Sn alloy with anodic oxide demonstrates a low value of approximately 50 GPa, which expands its application of the alloy as biomedical materials by adding photocatalytic sterilization function. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.