This study described the adsorption of chloramphenicol (CAP) in wastewater on the renewable bioresource of bamboo charcoal (BC). Results showed that CAP adsorption on BC (Lnq e =1.272 LnC e +1.971) and H 2 SO 4 modified BC (Lnq e =1.851 LnC e +0.659) were very slight, and on NaOH modified BC was significantly increased (Lnq e =0.344 LnC e +6.490). The adsorbents were characterized by N 2 adsorption–desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is revealed that BC and modified BC had very small surface areas of less than 1m 2 g −1 , H 2 SO 4 treatment led to minimal variation in surface functional groups, and NaOH treatment increased the percentage of surface graphitic carbon and other oxygen-containing groups. The increased adsorption of CAP on NaOH modified BC was mainly ascribed to the enhancement of the π–π interaction between the adsorbent and adsorbate.