A sample of bovine bone, an industrial by-product, was submitted to carbonisation at 800°C for 2 h at a heating rate of 3°C min–1 and a N2 flow of 80 cm3 min–1. The char obtained was characterised by nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77 K using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The textural parameters showed a surface area of 171 m2 g–1, pore volume of 0.07 cm3 g–1 and morphological characteristics of meso- and macroporous material. Additionally, adsorption isotherms of 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP) were made on the char obtained, and the adsorption behaviour was studied using the models of Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Paterson and Toth. Of these, the one that best describes the adsorption system was the Toth model, which indicates a multilayer adsorption. The adsorption capacity of 2,4-DNP was 41.3 mg L–1, from a model solution of 100 mg L–1. Finally, we evaluated the adsorption kinetics, correlating the experimental data with pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. It was found that the chemical kinetics of the removal of 2,4-DNP in the bovine char was described by the pseudo-second-order equation, which represented the chemisorption between the adsorbate and adsorbent in a monolayer on the surface.