Abstract:The effects of modification on the surface properties and inhibiting compounds (formic acid, acetic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural) removal performance of activate carbon (AC) were investigated. The raw and modified ACs were characterized, the result showed that the surface chemistries of the modified ACs were significant changed, but only the porous structure of modified by HNO 3 were slightly damaged, and the others no obvious change. The formic acid and acetic acid removal performance of modified AC had a certain amount of improvement compared to the raw AC, but it is still relatively low (15% and 14%), so AC adsorption is not suitable for removal formic acid and acetic acid. And the 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and furfural removal performance of modified AC by ZNCl 2 is good (89% and 81%). the process of adsorption of 5-HMF and furfural by activated carbon belongs to the process of exothermic physical adsorption and is the entropy reduction process. The adsorption is best carried out at low temperature.