Hydroquinone modified hyper-cross-linked resin (HJ-Y15) was prepared from macroporous crosslinked chloromethylated polystyrene and the adsorption behaviors of HJ-Y15 for salicylic acid were studied from aqueous solution. The results indicated that the surface of HJ-Y15 was modified by formaldehyde carbonyl, quinone carbonyl, and phenolic hydroxyl groups. Freundlich model was suitable for characterizing the isotherms and the adsorption was shown to be an exothermic, spontaneous, and more ordered process. The pseudosecond-order rate equation was appropriate for describing the kinetic curves and the intraparticle diffusion was the rate-controlling step. Hydrogen bonding between formaldehyde carbonyl groups of HJ-Y15 and carboxyl groups of salicylic acid was one of the primary driving forces for the adsorption. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 121: 3717-3723, 2011