Adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution onto a nonpolar adsorbent, aminated adsorbent and weak base adsorbent (Amberlite XAD4, NDA103 and Amberlite IRA96C, respectively) at temperatures from 293 to 313 K was studied for the weak interactions between the phenol molecules and the polymeric adsorbents. Isotherms of Langmuir and Freundlich equation with characteristic parameters for different adsorbents were well fitted to the batch equilibrium adsorption data. The adsorption capacity on NDA103 driven by hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interaction together is higher than that on IRA96C driven by hydrogen bonding interaction only and on XAD4 driven by van der Waals interaction only. For evaluating synergistic adsorption for phenol-water systems onto polymeric adsorbents, the adsorption capacity is normalized to the amounts of specific surface area and amino groups of adsorbents. The synergistic effect with other weak interactions would contribute more to the adsorption as acting simultaneously than that of acting individually. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.