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Graphical abstract Highlights • Combined cellulose, chitosan and filler to create the efficient adsorbents. • The CCM-AC displayed high adsorption efficiency and capacity of tylosin from water. • The adsorption rate of tylosin on CCM-AC was affected by the size-exclusion effect. • The adsorption effect was best under neutral conditions. • Three possible mechanisms were suggested to describe tylosin adsorption. Abstract Antibiotic pollution in tap water, surface water, and effluent needs to be controlled in China. Adsorption is an economical and eco-friendly way to solve the antibiotic contamination problem, such as tylosin. In this study, the chitosan/cellulose nanocomposite adsorbents entrapped with activated carbon are prepared by a sol-gel phase inversion method. Structures and properties of the adsorbents are characterized by SEM, EDXS, BET, XRD, FTIR XPS and Zeta potentials. The adsorption behavior of CCM-AC on tylosin is determined by batch and fixed-bed adsorption experiments, while their adsorption mechanism is also studied. The maximum adsorption capacity is 59.26 mg g−1, while the adsorption behavior is in accordance with the Langmuir equation and pseudo-second-order kinetics. These results confirm that the tylosin adsorption process is affected by chemical and physical interactions, and the adsorbent can be captured by tylosin with H-bond, electrostatic and π-π electron-donor-acceptor interaction. Adsorption experiments are significantly affected by pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]