Biochars converted from pyrolysis of walnut shell and coconut shell were used as an alternative adsorbent for adsorbing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Biochars were characterized by Elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectra, Boehm titration and specific surface area and porosity analyzer. And the adsorption behaviors of benzene and toluene on biochar were investigated by column experiments. The results suggested that the adsorption performance of coconut shell biochar was better than walnut shell biochar under the same preparation conditions. The adsorption capacity of biochar was increased with the increasing pyrolytic temperature within the temperature range (400 ℃ to 700 ℃). The adsorption process of low pyrolytic temperature biochar (400 ℃) and high pyrolytic temperature biochar (700 ℃) were described with the pseudo-second-order model and the pseudo-first-order model, respectively. At the adsorption temperature of 30 ℃, the isothermal adsorption process could be fitted by Toth model, and the maximal adsorption amounts of benzene and toluene calculated by Toth were 18.98 and 61.73 mg/g. The surface acidic groups and porous structure of biochar played an important role on adsorption capacity, affecting the surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion process.