Air conditioning and dehumidifying systems based on sorption on solids are of great interest, especially in humid climates, because they allow reduction of thermal loads and use of chlorofluorocarbons. Previous studies have shown that hydrophilic polymers such as sulfonic polymers can have very high performance in water adsorption from air. The aim of this study was to characterize the water vapor adsorption properties of fully sulfonated and monosulfonated poly(styrenesulfonic acid), sodium salt, and to elucidate the mechanism of adsorption on these materials. Adsorption isotherms have been determined by TGA between 298 and 317 K for pressures ranging from 0.1 to 45 hPa. They have type II of the IUPAC classification and a small hysteresis loop between adsorption and desorption processes was observed only for the monosulfonated sample. Water content is up to 80% weight at 80% relative humidity. Adsorption isotherms have been well fitted with the FHH model. Adsorption-desorption isobars have been determined by TGA under 37 hPa in the temperature range 298-373 K. They show that these polymers can be completely regenerated by heating at 313 K under humidified air. No degradation of the adsorption properties has been observed after several regenerations. Adsorption enthalpies and entropies have been deduced from the Clapeyron equation and from DSC measurements. A good agreement was found. A mechanism of adsorption is proposed considering two kinds of adsorbate: bounded water in electrostatic interaction with functional groups and free water resulting from condensation. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.