Coassisted carbonization with HCOOK/(HCOO)2Ca for the fabrication of bamboo-derived oxygen-doped porous carbons exhibiting high-performance sorption of diethyl phthalate from aqueous solutions

[Display omitted] •A coassisted method with HCOOK/(HCOO)2Ca was proposed to prepare porous carbons.•Porous carbons displayed excellent pore structures and abundant oxygen contents.•Porous carbons showed a high sorption quantity for diethyl phthalate: 761 mg g−1.•Pore filling, hydrogen bonding and π-π stacking dominated the sorption process. Porous carbons are excellent sorbents for removing organic pollutants. Green conversion of biowaste into advanced porous carbons is crucial for industrialized production and practical applications, which, however, have rarely been investigated. This study develops a coassisted carbonization method for the preparation of porous carbons with the environmentally friendly agents HCOOK and (HCOO)2Ca for the first time. The bamboo waste-derived hydrochar was transformed into oxygen-doped porous carbons, which displayed a large surface area and pore volume, abundant oxygen content, graphene structure and many surface functional groups. These properties contributed to the extremely high sorption of large quantities of diethyl phthalate, which reached 761 mg g−1. Surface adsorption, including pore filling, hydrogen bonding, and π-π stacking, rather than partitioning, was the main sorption process. Therefore, this study provides a sustainable and promising route for the preparation of porous carbons that can be applied in the efficient removal of organic pollutants.