Active carbons were prepared from low cost ion exchange resin, the samples were characterized by means of low temperature (-196 degrees C) N-2 adsorption, XPS, SEM, TEM, etc., and performance in CO2 and phenol adsorption were evaluated. It was found that samples with hierarchical structures and highly developed micro-mesoporous system could be obtained owing to the pre-induced highly dispersed potassium species by ion exchange, which served as an efficient activation agent, this represents an important improvement as compared with the normally reported KOH activation protocol in terms of lowering the usage of the corrosive KOH, and thus the sustainability of the obtained material. The optimized sample, R-K-700, showed the highest CO2 and phenol uptake of 13.6 wt.% and 167.3 mg/g, respectively, and more importantly, samples with an ordered spherical form and similar adsorption performance to the powdered sample can be easily fabricated, making the current carbons and preparation methodology a great promise for practical applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.