The adsorption of water vapor on a microporous activated carbon derived from the carbonization of coconut shell has been studied. Preadsorption of naphthalene was used as a tool to determine the location and the influence of the primary adsorbing centers within the porous structure of active carbon. The adsorption was studied in the pressure range p/p(0) = 0-0.95 in a static water vapor system, allowing the investigation of both kinetic and equilibrium experimental data. Modeling of the isotherms using the modified equation of Do and Do was applied to determine the effect of preadsorption on the mechanism of adsorption. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.