Uptake of phenol by graphite, and regeneration by methanol extraction, was measured to evaluate irreversible adsorption of phenols to carbon surfaces. The emphasis of this work was to identify the role of oxidative coupling, which has been invoked to explain irreversible phenol sorption by activated carbons. Graphite was chosen as a model carbon surface to eliminate potentially confounding effects of microporosity present in other types of carbonaceous sorbents. The isotherm data were well described by the Langmuir-Freundlich isotherm from pH 3 to 9. At pH 12, measured uptakes were higher than expected based on model predictions, suggesting the occurrence of an adsorption mechanism besides physisorption. One oxidative coupling product, 2,2'-dihydroxybiphenyl, was obtained exclusively after adsorption at pH values above 7, and appeared both in aqueous solution and in the methanol regenerant solution. The fraction of total uptake that was not recoverable by methanol extraction decreased with increasing phenol concentration in solution, suggesting preferential sorption by high-energy sites. However, absolute irreversible adsorption increased with phenol concentration in solution. Both fractional irreversible adsorption and 2,2'-dihydroxybiphenyl oxidative coupling product recovery as a function of pH and contact time demonstrated that irreversible sorption of phenol by graphite could not be explained by an oxidative coupling mechanism alone. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.