The present study reveals the formation of porous anodic films on titanium at an increased growth rate in hot phosphate/glycerol electrolyte by reducing the water content. A porous titanium oxide film of 12 mu m thickness, with a relatively low content of phosphorus species, is developed after anodizing at 5 V for 3.6 ks in 0.6 mol dm(-3) K2HPO4 +0.2 mol dm(-3) K3PO4/glycerol electrolyte containing only 0.04% water at 433K. The growth efficiency is reduced by increasing the formation voltage to 20V, due to formation of crystalline oxide, which induces gas generation during anodizing. The film formed at 20V consists of two layers, with an increased concentration of phosphorus species in the inner layer. The outer layer, comprising approximately 25% of the film thickness, is developed at low formation voltages, of less than 10 V, during the initial anodizing at a constant current density of 250 A m(-2). The pore diameter is not significantly dependent upon the formation voltage, being similar to 10 nm. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.