Titanium dioxide, TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized via microemulsion method employing Triton X-100 as the surfactant. Heat treatment was used to remove residual organic entities and also to produce anatase TiO2. Iron (Fe) was incorporated by wet impregnation into the TiO2 nanoparticles in order to shift the active region of the photocatalyst from UV into visible region. The Fe/TiO2 photocatalyst was characterized and their performance on the degradation of aqueous diisopropanolamine solution was compared with the commercial TiO2. The optimum conditions for the photodegradation of aqueous diisopropanolamine were found to be at 0.2wt of Fe. The present synthesized Fe/TiO2 photocatalyst showed an improved performance over the commercial TiO2 on the COD removal. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of Fe loading on the degradation of DIPA solution using a synthesized Fe/TiO2 photocatalyst. Paramaters affecting the degradation of DIPA such as calcination temperature and duration, pH and photocatalyst dosage were also investigated. At optimum conditions the synthesized Fe/TiO2 photocatalyst showed an improved performance over the commercial TiO2. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.