The CO2 gasification properties and kinetics of three biomass chars (WS-char, RL-char and PS-char) and anthracite char (AC-char) were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis method. Three nth-order representative gas-solid reaction models, random pore model (RPM), volume reaction model (VM) and unreacted core model (URCM) were employed to describe the reactive behavior of chars. Results show that gasification reactivity order of different chars from high to low was WS-char, PS-char, RL-char and AC-char. In addition, the chemical components as well as physical structures of four chars were systematically tested. It was found that gasification properties of char were determined by carbonaceous structure. It was concluded from kinetics analysis that RPM model was the best model for describing the reactivities of biomass chars and VM was the model that best fitted the gasification process of anthracite char. The activation energies obtained for the biomass and anthracite char samples lie in the range of 236.4-284.9 kJ/mol. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.