Functional chitosan, chemically modified by salicylaldehyde (CS-SA), b-cyclodextrin (CS-CD), and a crosslinkedb-cyclodextrin polymer (EPI-CD) were prepared as adsorbents to remove phenol, p-nitrophenoland p-chlorophenol from aqueous solution. Langmuir and Freundlich models were applied to describethe adsorption isotherm of phenols, and adsorption parameters were evaluated. Functional chitosan displayedoutstanding adsorption ability for phenols. To our surprise, CS-CD exhibited specific adsorptionability for p-chlorophenol. The possible adsorption interaction was discussed. Effects of pH and KCl onthe adsorption suggested that the adsorption of phenols was predominated by hydrogen bonding, hydrophobicinteraction and p–p interaction not electrostatic interaction. Effect of temperature indicated thatthe low temperature was favorable for the adsorption of phenols. Separation of phenols and adsorbentregeneration were carried out by simple washing with ethanol and filtrating.