The liquid adsorption behavior and surface properties of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrin, CD, were studied and compared by FTIR and capillary rise method. These three CDs all showed an intense peak at 1155 cm(-1) due to the C-O structure stretching and the peak height was found to reduce with the sugar ring molecules of CD increase. All these three CDs adsorbed the non-polar liquids greatly as compared with the polar liquid due to their total surface free energies dominated by the Lifshitz-van der Waals interactions component. The increase of the sugar ring molecules has been found to increase the Lewis acid-base property of CDs. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.