Copper loaded TiO2 brookite thin films were deposited on glass substrates using the dip-coating method. The crystalline structure of the films was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to evaluate the properties of the film surfaces. The transmittance spectra of the films were obtained by the Shimadzu multi-purpose spectrophotometer. The water contact angle on the film surfaces during irradiation and storage in a dark place was measured by a contact angle analyzer. The results indicate that Cu loading did not affect the transmittance spectra, whereas it had a significant effect on the hydrophilicity of the TiO2 film surface. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.