It was possible to determine the maximum loading of salicylic acid adsorbed onto gamma-alumina and kaolinite clay after exposure to salicylic acid dissolved in hexane by examination using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS). The maximum surface loading of salicylic acid (which resisted washing with fresh hexane) on gamma-alumina was four times that observed using water as a solvent (approximately 3.0 compared with 0.7 molecules/nm(2)). Washing the sample with water removed the organic which was in excess to the maximum level observed for samples prepared with aqueous solution. The spectra of samples prepared with a loading up to the maximum observed with aqueous solution showed no significant differences to those of samples where the organic had been adsorbed from hexane (with the same surface loading). New peaks were observed for loadings greater than 1 molecules/nm(2), but the salicylic acid was still present as carboxylate (with no clear evidence for the carbonyl group). Salicylic acid adsorbed more readily to the surface of kaolinite from solution in hexane than from aqueous solution (up to maximum average loading of 2 molecules/nm(2)). Washing the samples with water removed the organic to a loading in the region of 0.2 molecules/nm(2), independent of the initial loading. Salicylic acid was adsorbed onto kaolinite as the carboxylate. The findings indicate that uptake is mediated by a surface water layer even in the absence of bulk water. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.