h i g h l i g h t s Ratio precursor to surfactant is most significant parameter for mesopore formation. Optimal mesoporous carbon has a surface area of 712 m 2 /g and pore volume of 0.78 cm 3 /g. BPA adsorption is mainly influenced by mesoporous surface area and carbon content. g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t F127 Optimal mesoporous carbon EISA S meso (m²/g) Definitive screening design 0.84 Ratio precursor/ surfactant 12 Curing-Time (h) 600 Carbonization-temperature (°C) a b s t r a c t The synthesis of soft template mesoporous carbons was optimized with a Definitive Screening Design (DSD), a recently developed design of experiments (DOE) method. Such a design enables to investigate the effect of synthesis parameters including their interactions or quadratic effects, on the material prop-erties. The mesopore formation was influenced mostly by the ratio precursor/surfactant, other significant effects were curing time and carbonization temperature. The micropore formation was significantly influ-enced by the curing time and the carbonization temperature. The DSD was used to optimize the meso-porous surface area which could improve its potential as adsorbent. Via a validation experiment, a material with optimal mesoporous surface area (393 m 2 /g) was synthesized, showing a total surface area of 712 m 2 /g and a large pore volume of 0.78 cm 3 /g. The different mesoporous carbons, synthesized according to the DSD, were tested for the adsorption of bisphenol A (BPA). This allowed to investigate the effect of material properties on the adsorption capacity, which varied between 12 and 163 mg/g. Via regression analysis, the mesoporous surface area and the carbon content of the mesoporous carbons were identified as the main factors influencing the adsorption of BPA. Ó 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.