Here, a new hierarchical porous carbon was first prepared from sodium lignosulphonate (SLS), an industrial by-product, via a confined carbonization and alkali activation methods using graphene oxide (GO) as template, and was used for ciprofloxacin (CIP) removal. The addition of GO nanosheets remarkably affected the morphology and pore structure. GLHPC-1, obtained at GO/SLS weight ratio of 1:100, possess a largest specific surface area of 3223 m² g⁻¹ and pore volume of 2.275 cm³ g⁻¹, and thus exhibited an ultrahigh adsorption of 980.4 mg g⁻¹ at 318 K and fast adsorption rate, as well as a good recycle ability in practice.