In order to investigate the effects of surface structure of activated carbon on its efficiency for adsorbing chemical components in mainstream cigarette smoke (MCS), the efficiencies of 5 activated carbons of different structure for adsorbing four kinds of components, including carbonyls, 5 volatile organic compounds (1,3-butadiene, isoprene, acrylonitrile, benzene and toluene), phenols and aroma components in MCS were analyzed. The results showed that: 1) Adsorption efficiency mainly depended on the specific surface area of activated carbon; when carbon amount was fixed, adsorption efficiency raised with the increase of specific surface area. 2) The activated carbon containing more micropores (r < 2 nm) presented stronger ability for retaining compounds of small molecular, such as acetaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, isoprene among others; however, its higher resistance to mass transfer was adverse to phenols adsorption. Increasing mesopores would enhance macromolecular compound adsorption. 3) Adsorption efficiency was also related to the molecular weight and boiling point of compound. For volatile carbonyls and 5 volatile organic compounds, adsorption efficiency increased with the increase of molecular weight and boiling point, while it was on the contrary for aroma components of the same kind. Adsorption efficiency for phenols was significantly lower than that for volatile carbonyls and 5 volatile organic compounds, and that for dihydric phenol was lower than that for monohydric phenol.