Activated carbons prepared from two bituminous coals were used to adsorb phenol in aqueous solutions. The major diþ erence between the coal precursors is the oxygen content. The carbon preparation consisted of carbonization of the coals followed by activation in to various CO 2 extents of burn-oþ . Experimental results show that the amount of phenol adsorbed generally increases with the BET surface area of the carbon. The carbons prepared from the coal with a higher oxygen content have larger surface areas, and, therefore, exhibit higher capacities for phenol. The surface area of the carbon increases with the extent of carbon burn-oþ , whereas the increase in the adsorptive capacity due to the increasing burn-oþ level does not show a linear relationship with the increase in area ; the ratio of the capacity to BET surface area is not constant and decreases with the burn-oþ level. This has been attributed to the accessibility of phenol to the surface being aþ ected by the length of diþ usion path, which is an increasing function of the burn-oþ level or the particle size. The amount of phenol adsorbed decreases with the temperature for these carbons. It was found, according to the Langmuir model, that the adsorption process was signiücantly aþ ected by the oxygen content in the coal precursors.1999 Society of Chemical Industry (