Chemical modification was performed for macroporous crosslinked chloromethylated polystyrene. The obtained HJ-K01 resin was used to remove phenol from aqueous solution, and its adsorption behaviors for phenol were compared with commercial Amberlite XAD-4. The results indicate that methylamino groups were successfully uploaded onto the surface of the HJ-K01 resin and the adsorption capacity of phenol onto the HJ-K01 resin was much larger than that onto XAD-4. Furthermore, the original phenol solution was suitable for the adsorption, the adsorption isotherms could be fitted by the Freundlich model, and its kinetic curves could be characterized by a pseudo-second-order rate equation. The fixed-bed column adsorption demonstrated that the HJ-K01 resin was an excellent resin for the removal of phenol. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 119: 1435-1442, 2011