Carbon–ceramic cellular monoliths were prepared by coating a ceramic cellular monolith with a polymeric solution (carbon precursor). Phenolic (resol and novolac) or furanic resins, and polysaccharides (sucrose and dextrose) were used as carbon precursors. The following procedure was adopted: (a) substrate impregnation with a polymeric solution, (b) curing or drying, (c) carbonisation (700–1000°C, N 2 ), and (d) physical (H 2 O, 700°C) or chemical (ZnCl 2 ) activation. In optimal conditions (e.g. phenolic novolac, 64 wt.%; two impregnation–curing–carbonisation cycles) the material obtained exhibited a high carbon percentage (∼14 wt.%) with a micropore volume and a specific surface area (relative to the mass of deposited carbon) of 0.32 cm 3 g −1 and 427 m 2 g −1 , respectively. By physical activation (burnoff: 20 wt.%) the micropore volume increased to 0.44 cm 3 g −1 and the specific surface area to 1450 m 2 g −1 . By means of chemical activation, a high carbon load (∼13 wt.%) was obtained in a single step, with a micropore volume of 0.36 cm 3 g −1 and a specific surface area of 791 m 2 g −1 . The activated material shows a uniform carbon distribution, good adsorption properties, good electrical conductivity (1.15 Ω−1cm −1 ) and a high mechanical strength (16 MPa).