Commercial activated carbon D43/1 (Carbo-Tech, Essen, Germany) was deashed and modified chemically to increase surface acidity and basicity, as well as to introduce metal cations onto the surface and yet conserve the porosity. The five carbons obtained were applied as adsorbents. Based on the results of batch-reactor test kinetic measurements of the adsorption of 4-hydroxyacetanilide (paracetamol) from aqueous solution at the neutral pH and at three temperatures (300, 310, and 320 K), the values of the effective diffusion coefficient (D(e)) were calculated. It is shown that D(e) increases (up to the relative adsorption equal to approximately 0.6) with rise in the magnitude of the enthalpy of immersion of carbons in water. Based on the obtained results as well as those published previously, the role of surface composition in the mechanism of paracetamol adsorption and in the kinetics of this process is discussed. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.