The La (S, C)-TiO2 oriented films with honeycomb ceramic wafers as carriers were prepared by template hydrothermal synthesis at low temperature. The effects of the hydrothermal reaction temperature, the amount of template agents and the codoping of La and S on the performances of nano-TiO2 films were studied. The performances of the films were characterized on the XRD, UV-vis, BET, EDS and SEM. The results showed that the TiO2 films with anatase phase were obtained when hydrothermal reaction temperature was 150 degrees C and the reaction time was 10 h, and the oriented films were obtained when the molar ratio of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymer (PEO-PPO-PEO (P-123)) to Ti was 0.03. The data also revealed that the specific surface area of particles in the film increased from 148 m(2)/g to 240 m(2)/g, the photocatalytic activity of the oriented film was improved greatly due to the codoping of La and S, and the oriented film could fully decompose methyl orange in water for 3 h. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.