In this work, we presented a new method which directly acts on the surface of the Ti sheet by mechanical micro-etching using a grating ruling engine. The effect of the pre-pattern on the morphology and growth speed of TiO2 nanostructure formed on the Ti sheet with the traditional anodization method was investigated. A novel wall structure was observed and the growth speed of TiO2 nanotube (NT) was greatly affected by the pre-pattern. The wall structure increases the surface-to-volume ratio of the nanotube arrays. The new method provided the possibility of further optimization of fast growth of TiO2 nanostructure and improving the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and photocatalysis. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.