Ceria, prepared by a precipitation method, was used as a new photocatalyst under UV light irradiation. The as-prepared sample was characterized by XRD and SEM. Results showed that the ceria was cubic fluorite structure and sized in nanometer range. The photocatalytic degradation of phenol was investigated in the presence of a suspended mixture of ceria and activated carbon. A synergy effect was observed with an enhancement of the apparent rate constant by a factor of 5.6 times. The apparent quantum yield of the ceria-AC system was also increased 2.9 times. The activated carbon with strong adsorption activity provided sites for the adsorption of phenol. Then, the adsorbed phenol would migrate continuously to the surface of ceria particles. Some phenol still remained adsorbing on the catalyst when no traces of phenol were detected in the solution. This adsorbed phenol could be degraded by maintaining UV-irradiation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.