Herein, we described a tunable method for synthesis of novel hollow mesoporous carbon (MPC) via direct pyrolysis (800C) of MIL-53 (Fe) as a self-sacrificed template. The structural characterization revealed a hollow, amorphous, defective and mesoporous MPC along with high surface area (approx. 200 m g). For the experiments of ibuprofen adsorption onto MPC, effects of contact time, MPC dosage, ionic strength, concentration and temperature were systematically investigated. The optimal conditions consisted of pH = 3, concentration 10 mg l and dose of 0.1 g l for the highest ibuprofen removal efficiency up to 88.3% after 4 h. Moreover, adsorption behaviour, whereby chemisorption and monolayer controlled the uptake of ibuprofen over MPC, were assumed. Adsorption mechanisms including H-bonding, π-π interaction, metal-oxygen, electrostatic attraction were rigorously proposed. In comparison to several studies, the MPC nanocomposite in this work obtained the outstanding maximum adsorption capacity (206.5 mg g) and good reusability (5 cycles); thus, it can be used as a feasible alternative for decontamination of ibuprofen anti-inflammatory drug from water.