This paper deals with the degradation of aqueous phenol by a newly proposed rotating-drum reactor coated with a TiO2 photocatalyst, in which TiO2 powders loaded with Pt are immobilized on the outer surface of a glass-drum The reactor can receive solar light and oxygen from the atmosphere effectively. It was shown experimentally that phenol can be decomposed rapidly by this reactor under solar light: with our experimental conditions the phenol with an initial concentration of 22.0 mg/dm(3) was decomposed within 60 min and was completely mineralized through intermediate products within 100 min. The photonic efficiency under solar light was shown tu take the value 0.00742 mol-C/Einstein. The photocatalytic decomposition processes of phenol by this reactor were also discussed on the basis of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.