In this work, vanadium doped TiO2-SiO2 thin films were deposited on glass substrates using the sol-gel dip coating method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the film characteristics. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and UV-vis spectrophotometer were used to evaluate the film thickness and the optical properties of the thin film. In addition, surface morphology and surface roughness of films were measured with atomic force microscopy analysis. The optical results indicated that vanadium dopant in TiO2-SiO2 changed the absorption edge from ultraviolet to visible light. Water contact angle on the film surfaces was measured by a contact angle analyzer under UV and visible light irradiation. The results indicated that vanadium as a dopant ion had a significant effect on the hydrophilicity property of TiO2-SiO2 thin films. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.