The adsorption behavior of pesticide 2

4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2

4-D) in aqueous solution has been investigated using a hypercrosslinked polystyrene adsorbent (NDA-99) modified by dimethylamine group as well as a nonionic macroporous adsorbent (XAD-4). The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were employed to fit the experimental data to describe adsorption mechanism. It shows that NDA-99 resin exhibits an adsorption affinity for 2

4-D higher than XAD-4 resin owing to its exceptional micropore structure and the amine group of the hypercrosslinked matrix. Further studies indicate that hydrogen bonding interaction and the stronger π-π conjugation play a significant role in the course of the adsorption of 2

4-D on NDA-99 resin

which is in agreement with the IR spectroscopic results and the ΔE values of HOMO (the highest occupied molecular orbit) of adsorbent and LUMO (the lowest unoccupied molecular orbit) of adsorbate calculated from the MINDO/3 model.