Electrosorption performance of copper ions from wastewater on ordered mesorporous carbon (OMC) electrode was investigated. The OMC was synthesized by replication using SBA-15 as template and sucrose as carbon source. The OMC were characterized with nitrogen physisorption, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The OMC electrodes were prepared by blending the synthesized OMC, conductive carbon black, and PVDF binder. A conventional recycling batch system was adopted in the adsorption/electrosorption investigation in both open circuit and electrochemical polarization experiments. At pH = 4, the saturated adsorption capacity of copper ion (Cu2+) on the OMC electrode was determined 9.53 mg/g at open circuit. The equilibrium electrosorption capacity at polarization of 0.9 V was 56.62 mg/g, which is about 5 times higher than that at open circuit. The electrosorption isotherm data can be well described by Langmuir equation. The kinetics analysis indicated that the electrosorption of Cu2+ on OMC electrodes followed pseudo-second-order kinetics model. A commercial highly microporous activated fiber cloths were selected as electro-adsorbent of Cu2+ for comparison. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.