Visible light absorbing vertically aligned N-doped anatase nanotube array thin films were synthesized by anodizing Ti foils in ethylene glycol + NH4F + water mixture containing urea as nitrogen source. Different nitrogen concentrations were achieved by varying the urea content in the electrolyte. The structure, morphology, composition and optical band gap of the nanotube arrays were determined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, respectively. The substitution of O2- ions by N3- ions in the anion sublattice as well as the formulae of the doped samples was confirmed from the results of XPS. The optical band gap of the nanotube arrays was found to decrease with N-concentration. The sample with the highest concentration corresponding to the formula TiO1.83N0.14 showed two regions in the Tauc's plot indicating the presence of interband states. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.