The low-cost modi¯ed activated carbons were prepared from Thar and Lakhra (Pakistan) coals by activation with sulfuric acid and further modi¯ed with citric, tartaric and acetic acids for the selective adsorption of Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The original carbon obtained from activated Thar and Lakhra coals at pH 3.0 displayed signi¯cant adsorption capacity for lead and insigni¯cant capacity values (0.880 and 0.830 mgÁg À1 ) for copper. However, after modi¯cation with citric, tartaric and acetic acid the copper adsorption capacities enhanced in the range of 5.56À21.85 and 6.05À44.61 times, respectively. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin adsorption isotherms were used to elucidate the observed sorption phenomena. The isotherm equilibrium data was well¯tted by the Langmuir and su±ciently¯tted to the Freundlich models. The calculated thermodynamic parameters such as change in Gibbs free energy (ÁG ), enthalpy (ÁH ) and entropy (ÁS ) inferred that the investigated adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. Based on the results, it was concluded that the surface alteration with citric and tartaric acid, Thar and Lakhra activated carbons had signi¯cant potential for selective removal of copper(II) from industrial wastewater.