The Durra (Sorghum) stalk was employed as a novel precursor for the formation of high surface area activated carbons (ACs) by utilizing ZnCl2 as activating agent followed by pyrolysis in a flow ofN2 gas. The formation of ACs has been investigated at different pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500 and 600 °C) and different ZnCl2 impreg- nation concentrations. The results indicated that, the AC could be formed with high carbon contents, good ther- mal stability, large specific surface areas in the range of 1200–1817 m2/g and nanostructured in graphene-like layers of 5–6 nm in thickness. In addition, textural flexibility (in terms of supermicro/meso porosity) of the pro- duced ACs can be fine-tuned by pyrolysis conditions. The potential application ofACs was tested towards the re- moval ofhazardous cationic dye, methylene blue (MB), in aqueous media. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics ofMB on ACs were examined at 25 °C. The ACs showed a high adsorption capacity, as high as 386mg2/g. The ad- sorption ofMB was better described by the Langmuir isotherm model and followed the pseudo-second-order equation. In light ofthe vast availability ofdurra stalks, as a sustainable residual, non-food/non-feed biomass ma- terial and quality ofthe produced ACmaterials. The presented ACs are very promising materials for application in many adsorption and purification processes.