A TiO
2 catalyst doped by Pb
2+ was prepared by the sol-gel method and characterized by DRS and FS. The experimental results showed that Pb
2+ strengthened the TiO
2 fluorescence apex, the absorbance band edge moved in the red direction, and the absorbance strengthened obviously both in the UV range and in the visible range. Compared with Ag-TiO
2, Bi-TiO
2 and TiO
2 films, the Pb
2+-doped TiO
2 thin film has the highest photocatalytic activity by studying the degradation of methyl orange under UV-ray, which is an effective way to increase the photocatalytic activity.