The photo-assisted Fenton degradation of salicylic acid (SA) was studied by using strongly acidic ion exchange resin (SAIER) exchanged with Fe ions as catalyst in the presence of UV light (254 nm) and H2O2. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results revealed that the Fe ions are indeed anchored by the sulfonte groups on the surface of the SAIER and are Fe3+. Our results also indicate that the Fe/SAIER catalyst can significantly enhance the degradation rate of SA without remarkable Fe leaching to the solution, implying that the catalyst has photo-catalytic activity. In addition, the effects of [H2O2]/[SA] molar ratio, UVC light power, solution pH, catalyst loading, and initial SA concentration on the degradation of SA were investigated in detail. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.