alpha-Fe(2)O(3)modified TiO2 nanoparticulate (NP) films were successfully prepared by sparking off Fe-coated Ti wires using an electroplating technique. An aqueous iron (III) nitrate with the concentration of 0.01 M was used as the electrolyte. The experiment was carried out using a 0.1 mu A of DC current applied to Ti wires which were dipped in the electrolyte for 15-135 s. The NP films were then formed by sparking the Fe-coated Ti wires using a high DC voltage of 3.0 kV and a limited current of 3 mA. The as-deposited NP films with high porosity were annealed at 250 and 500 degrees C under atmospheric pressure for 1 h. The films were then characterized in terms of morphology as well as structural and optical properties using SEM, Raman spectroscopy and UV/vis spectroscopy, respectively. Electroplating Ti wires with an Fe coating for increasing lengths of time had the effect of increasing the tip diameter and thickness from 252.5 to 259.2 mu m and 0-3.3 mu m, respectively. Raman spectra showed that the annealed films at 500 degrees C were composed of the anatase TiO2 phase at 145 cm(-1) and the hematite Fe2O3 phase at 222, 289, 406 and 612 cm(-1). The energy band gap of the annealed films at 500 degrees C, calculated using the transmission spectra, decreased from 3.27 to 2.95 as the electroplating time increased from 0 to 135 s. Finally, it was observed that the NP film electroplated for 135 s showed the highest degradation of methylene blue (MB) at 662 nm when exposed to visible light for 1 h. This result represents a 37% enhancement in the visible-light photocatalytic activity. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.