Abstract: A new TiO2 OAg compound catalyst that is made by solOgel method has been introduced. When treating water sample containing phenol by the catalyst , the conditions of the photocatalytic oxidation degradation , influential factors and degradation rate have been studied. Experimental results show that the catalyst has a fairly good activity of catalytic oxidation to phenol in aqueous solution under sunlight . Under the conditions of having air flow through , pH = 4. 0 , concentration of phenol is 5 mg/ L and treating time is 3 hours , the removal rate of phenol can reach about 98 %. For the catalyst , its performance is stable , easy to settle down and separate and it is reusable by high temperature activation. So it is able to reduce costs of water treatment effectively.

Key words: photocatalytic oxidation, titanium dioxide, phenol, wastewater treatment