Naturally occurring porous diatomite (Dt) was functionalized with phenyltriethoxysilane (VMS), and the PTES-modified diatomite (PTES-Dt) was characterized using diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. After silylation, a functional group (-C6H5, phenyl) was successfully introduced onto the surface of Dt. PTES-Dt exhibited hydrophobic properties with a water contact angle (WCA) as high as 120 degrees +/- 1 degrees, whereas Dt was superhydrophilic with a WCA of 0 degrees. The benzene adsorption data on both Dt and PTES-Dt fit well with the Langmuir isotherm equation. The Langmuir adsorption capacity of benzene on PTES-Dt is 28.1 mg/g, more than 4-fold greater than that on Dt. Moreover, the adsorption kinetics results show that equilibrium was achieved faster for PTES-Dt than for Dt, over the relative pressure range of 0.118-0.157. The excellent benzene adsorption performance of PTES-Dt is attributed to strong it-system interactions between the phenyl groups and the benzene molecules as well as to the macroporosity of the PTES-Dt. These results show that the silylated diatomite could be a new and inexpensive adsorbent suitable for use in benzene emission control. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.