A visible-light TiO

2

photocatalyst codoped with La

3+

and S(La

3+

/S/TiO

2

)was prepared by sol-gel method and characterized by UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

X-ray diffraction

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemistry. The activity of the prepared photocatalyst under visible light irradiation was evaluated by photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. It is found that doping of La

3+

and S does not change crystalline style of TiO

2

but enhances the lattice distortion. The visible

-light(λ>420 nm)activities of La

3+

doped S/TiO

2

samples greatly increase compared with that of S/TiO

2

. The size of La

3+

/S/TiO

2

gets more little than that of pure TiO

2

and S/TiO

2

the flat-band potential of conduction shifts notably negatively

and the absorption edge shifts remarkably toward long wavelength. When the mol ration of S/TiO

2

the doping content of La

3+

and the calcinated temperature are 1:5

0.75% and 450 ℃

respectively

the catalyst is endowed with the highest activity.