The invention discloses an active carbon box sampler with a diffusion barrier, which comprises a circular aluminum cover with a cover, the diffusion barrier, a stainless steel pressing sheet, a stainless steel net, a location snap ring and active carbon, wherein the active carbon is arranged in the aluminum box, the stainless steel net is placed on the active carbon, and the stainless steel pressing sheet provided with the diffusion barrier is placed on the stainless steel net and is located by the location snap ring and then sealed by the cover. In the invention, the sampling efficiency is increased through selecting the active carbon with high radon adsorption efficiency, the influence of water in the air to a detection result is reduced through additionally arranging the diffusion barrier and changing the structure of the sample, and reverse diffusion of radon is reduced; and the concentration of the radon in a room is detected by using the sampler disclosed by the invention, thus the reliability of the detection result is improved. The sampler is suitable for massively detecting the radon in the room for a current construction project, and has the advantages of stable detection result, simplicity in operation, saving of a great quantity of manpower works, and the like.