The adsorption of sixteen volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the gas phase by activated carbon (AC) generated from waste rice husk was investigated under two different levels of relative humidity (RH) by inverse gas chromatography (IGC). R850 AC had the largest surface area and was characterized. Linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) was employed to understand the interactions between R850 AC and VOCs. The major functional groups on the surface of R850 AC were C=C, Si-O-Si, O-H, and C-O (H). IGC indicated that the gas/solid adsorption coefficients (logK(d)) for the 16 VOCs lied in the range 4.0-6.1 (g g(-1))/(g mL(-1)) under medium RH (around 55%), but decreased under high RH (90%). Moreover, the logK(d) value predicted from our LSER equations was highly correlated to the experimental logK(d) of the R850 AC. This study demonstrates that R850 AC is a promising material for VOC removal and the established LSER equations are useful to estimate VOC adsorption. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.