Activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were used for the adsorption of phenol, 2-chlorophenol (2-CP), 4-chlorophenol (4-CP), 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP), 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) from aqueous solutions, and the adsorption capacities followed the order of TCP>DNP approximate to DCP>4-NP>4-CP>2-CP>phenol. Adsorption isotherms at different temperatures were determined and modeled with Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson equations. Thermodynamic parameters were calculated and correlated with the adsorption behaviors. The effects of solution pH on the adsorption were also studied. The adsorption mechanism was discussed based on the experimental results, and the pi-pi interactions, solvent effects, hydrophobic interactions and molecular dimensions were considered to be important in the adsorption. Kinetic studies showed rapid adsorption kinetics of the phenols, due to the open pore structure of the ACFs. The kinetics was fitted with the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models. Steric effects on adsorption kinetics were observed for TCP, 4-NP and DNP, but serious impact on the ultimate uptake was only found for DNP. The relationship between the steric effects and the molecular dimension was also proposed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.