Mercury chloride (HgCl 2 ) is the major mercury derivate emitted from municipal solid waste incinerators, which has high risk to the environment and human health. This study investigated the adsorption of vapor-phase HgCl 2 with an innovative composite sulfurized activated carbon (AC), which was derived from the pyrolysis, activation, and sulfurization of waste tires. The composite sulfur-impregnation process impregnated activated carbon with aqueous-phase sodium sulfide (Na 2 S) and followed with vapor-phase elemental sulfur (S 0 ). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was applied to investigate the adsorptive capacity of vapor-phase HgCl 2 using the composite sulfurized AC. The operating parameters included the types of composite sulfurized AC, the adsorption temperature, and the influent HgCl 2 concentration. Experimental results indicated that the sulfur-impregnation process could increase the sulfur content of the sulfurized AC, but decreased its specific surface area. This study further revealed that the composite sulfurized AC impregnated with aqueous-phase Na 2 S and followed with vapor-phase S 0 (Na 2 S+S 0 AC) had much higher saturated adsorptive capacity of HgCl 2 than AC impregnated in the reverse sequence (S 0 +Na 2 S AC). A maximum saturated adsorptive capacity of HgCl 2 up to 5236μg-HgCl 2 /g-C was observed for the composite Na 2 S+S 0 AC, which was approximately 2.00 and 3.17 times higher than those for the single Na 2 S and S 0 ACs, respectively.