Activated carbons prepared from two bituminous coals were used to adsorb phenol in aqueous solutions. The major difference between the coal precursors is the oxygen content. The carbon preparation consisted of carbonization of the coals followed by activation in CO2 to various extents of burn-off. Experimental results show that the amount of phenol adsorbed generally increases with the BET surface area of the carbon. The carbons prepared from the coal with a higher oxygen content have larger surface areas, and, therefore, exhibit higher capacities for phenol. The surface area of the carbon increases with the extent of carbon burn-off, whereas the increase in the adsorptive capacity due to the increasing burn-off level does not show a linear relationship with the increase in area; the ratio of the capacity to BET surface area is not constant and decreases with the burn-off level. This has been attributed to the accessibility of phenol to the surface being affected by the length of diffusion path, which is an increasing function of the burn-off level or the particle size. The amount of phenol adsorbed decreases with the temperature for these carbons. It was found, according to the Langmuir model, that the adsorption process was significantly affected by the oxygen content in the coal precursors.