Ceramic coatings were prepared in Na(2)SiO(3)-Na(2)CO(3)-NaOH system by pulsed bi-polar plasma electrolytic oxidation on Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The phase composition, structure and the elemental distribution of the coatings were studied by XRD, SEM and energy dispersive spectroscopy, respectively. The thermal shock resistance of the coated samples at 850 degrees C was evaluated by the thermal shock tests. The high temperature oxidation resistance of the coating samples at 500 degrees C was investigated. The results showed that the coating was mainly composed of rutile- and anatase TiO(2), Increasing the concentration of Na(2)SiO(3), TiO(2) content decreased gradually while the thickness of the coating increased. There were a large amount of micro pores and sintered particles on the surface of the coatings. Increasing concentration of Na(2)SiO(3), the sintered particles on the surface turned large, and the Si content increased while the Ti content decreased gradually. When the concentration of Na(2)SiO(3) was 15 g/L, the thermal shock resistance of the coatings was better than that of the coatings that prepared under other Na(2)SiO(3) concentrations. The coating samples prepared under the optimized technique process based on the thermal shock tests improved the high temperature oxidation resistance at 500 degrees C greatly, whether considering the isothermal oxidation or the cyclic oxidation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.