A correlative study between the physical properties and the adsorptive
/desorptive properties of four activated carbons (RG1, RB-T, ROW and C
G) for solid phase extraction (SPE) of phenols was carried out. In det
ermining the adsorptive properties, a few differences were found betwe
en the distribution coefficients (K-D) and breakthrough volumes, which
were attributed to the different physico-chemical properties of activ
ated carbons. For phenol and chlorophenols, methylene chloride was the
best desorbing solvent, but for other phenols, acetonitrile was the b
est solvent on an average.