In this paper, the present situation and progress on the area of semiconductor photocatalysis were reviewed briefly, including the mechanism of semiconductor photocatalysis, the improvement of photocatalyst and the coupling of the process of photocatalytic oxidation with other processes or techniques. The influence of sulfation and microwave heating method on the structure and photocatalytic properties of TiO 2 catalyst was discussed. The new processes with high efficiency for degradation of organic contaminants such as microwave-assisted photocatalysis and the coupling of thermal catalysis with photocatalysis were proposed.