A new application of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPUs), as composite binder in the preparation of fabric/activated carbon composites, is investigated. Different amounts of TPU in the impregnating solutions, different fabrics, and different activated carbons (ACs) were used to prepare the fabric/carbon composite samples. The adsorption properties of the resulting samples were tested, and the results obtained show the suitability of the composite preparation method proposed in this article. Moreover, the adsorption properties of the composite samples prepared are independent of the fabric used and dependent of the AC properties and the TPU amount used in the preparation. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 118: 3509-3517, 2010