Depending on the rough surface caused by micro/nano-scale porous architecture, the resultant carbon monolith exhibits high porosity and excellent hydrophobicity. When used as a sorbent for oil–water separation, the carbon monolith can effectively and selectively absorb oil from water. In addition, coupling with the intrinsic fire-resistant property, the oil-fouled carbon monolith can be direct burned in air without any structure destruction, exhibiting good recyclability. More importantly,the low-cost and available source, and the simple preparation method make the carbon monolith easy to be scaled up for potential industry applications. Therefore, the macro/mesoporous carbon monolith offers a new avenue as a versatile,efficient, and safe sorbent in the field of oil spill cleanup.