Ceria thin films have been anodically deposited onto 316L stainless steel in bath solutions containing different volume ratios of ethanol (0, 10, 40, 70 and 100% v/v). The influence of ethanol content on the electroplating behavior, and the structural and corrosion properties of the cerium oxide films were studied with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction, and Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results show that ethanol content plays a significant role on the properties of the deposited ceria films but negligible effect on their electroplating behavior. The as-deposited films are mostly in the Ce(IV) oxidation state and the stoichiometry is around CeO1.90 for all samples. With the increase of ethanol content from 0 to 100% v/v, the average grain diameter and film thickness of the obtained ceria film decrease from 16.8 nm to 11.1 nm and from 32.9 nm to 15.8 nm, respectively. Using a deposition bath solution containing 10% v/v ethanol, a layer of compacted yellowish gold ceria film with the minimum porosity of 19.9%, mean crystalline diameter of 15.4 nm, and maximum corrosion resistance of 3.31 x 10(-5) Omega has been obtained. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.