We synthesized magnetic mesoporous carbon (Ni-CMK-3) as an adsorbent for removal of sulfur from model oil (dibenzothiophene, DBT, in n-hexane). X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analyses revealed the presence of face-centered cubic Ni nanoparticles with an average size of 17 +/- 3 nm, and indicated that the carbon support retained its mesoporosity and morphology after immobilization of the metal nanoparticles. Nitrogen adsorption measurements indicated that the resultant Ni-CMK-3 possesses high surface area (705 m(2) g(-1)), large pore-volume (0.87 cm(3) g(-1)) and average pore-size of 4.5 nm. The resulting magnetic mesoporous carbon afforded a maximum adsorption capacity of 62.0 mg DBT g(-1) of Ni-CMK-3 at the optimized conditions (Ni loading, 20%; adsorbent dose, 5 g L-1; contact time, 1 h; temperature, 40 degrees C). Magnetic measurement revealed the ferromagnetic property of Ni-CMK-3 at room temperature with saturation magnetization, remanent magnetization and coercive force of 13.8 emu g(-1), 38.0 Oe and 2.2 emu g(-1), respectively, which made it desirable for separation under an external magnetic field. Following adsorption of DBT, Ni-CMK-3 could be separated by a magnet and regenerated by extraction with toluene. The regenerated adsorbent afforded 97%, 94% and 80% of the initial adsorption capacity after the first three regeneration cycles, respectively. (c), 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.