Under different conditions of initial rice husk ash (RHA) dosage, oscillating temperature, oscillating frequency and solution pH, the adsorption characteristics of sulfanilamide on RHA with the change of time and its adsorption kinetics were investigated. RHA was characterized by SEM and FTIR before and after sulfanilamide adsorption. The results indicated that the adsorption characteristics of sulfanilamide on RHA was influenced by RHA dosage, oscillating temperature, oscillating frequency and solution pH. Within the RHA dosing range (0. 1-2.0 g.L-1) in this experiment, the optimal temperature for the adsorption was 25C , and with the increase of RHA dosage, the removal efficiency of sulfanilamide increased, the time required to reach adsorption equilibrium was shortened and the adsorptive quantity of sulfanilamide by per unit mass of RHA decreased. A high oscillating frequency was used to ensure the adsorption effect when the RHA concentration was high. Strong acidic and strong alkaline conditions were conducive to the adsorption of sulfanilamide. The analysis of adsorption dynamics showed that for the adsorption process with high RHA dosage ( >or= 1.0 g.L-1), the pseudo-second-order model fitted the adsorption behavior well, and the process was controlled by physical and chemical adsorption. Intraparticle diffusion model showed that the adsorption process was controlled by both membrane diffusion and internal diffusion, and the influence of the former became more obvious with the increase of the adsorbent concentration. Both the SEM and FTIR spectra proved the effective adsorption of sulfanilamide by RHA.