Titanium oxide was deposited on activated carbon (AC) in two forms, as powder and as a pellet. This oxide was obtained using sol-gel process based on titanium isopropoxide and isopropyl alcohol. Nanocrystalline TiO2 anatase phase on activated carbon was obtained using an adequated thermal treatment of 325°C for 5 h considering the thermal instability of the AC. The resulting material was characterized by spectroscopic X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalyses (EDX), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements. Activity measurements performed under UV lamp and solar irradiation have shown good results for the photo degradation of phenol in aqueous solution. For solar applications, a polyethylene terephtalate bottle containing the photocatalyts was filled up with the contaminated water and placed a few hours under the solar radiation for a couple of sunny days. The results indicate that 20 ppm of phenol can be removed by using this method. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.