A facile one-step solvothermal route was developed to synthesize NiO nanoflowers (200-300 nm in diameter) with the introduction of poly(vinyl-pyrrolidone)/stearic acid (PVP/SA) mixture. The product was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopes (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), Thermal gravimetric analyze (TGA), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The mesoporous NiO nanoflowers showed an excellent adsorption capacity for organic pollutants (Congo red) from waste water (about 56 mg Congo red per g NiO).