Both activation and surface oxidation were employed to tailor the textural and surface properties of a typical ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-3) for better adsorptive desulfurization performance. The amount of small micropores increased dramatically upon activation, while abundant surface functionalities were introduced by surface oxidation. Thanks to the abundant mesopores present in the carbons, a quasi-equilibrium situation for DBT adsorption from model fuels could be reached rapidly in less than 30 min, and the adsorption amounts at 5 min were equal to more than 95% of the equilibrium values. Moreover, the adsorption amount of DBT was increased by up to 121% with the introduction of small micropores and surface functionalities. Further experiments were designed to demonstrate that the adsorption amount is depended on both textural and surface properties. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.