Coal combustion in thermal power plants throughout the world produces large amounts of fly ash. Disposal of fly ash is a serious threat to the environment and hence is a worldwide concern for conversion of these wastes into useful products. Synthesis of mesoporous silica materials from coal fly ash has already been proposed as an option which can be utilized as an adsorbent. Adsorption is considered to be one of the more promising technologies for capturing CO2 from flue gases. This paper reviews the recent development of solid adsorbents from industrial waste materials with special reference to fly ash for post-combustion capture of CO2. (C) 2012 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.