This investigation deals with effective utilization of fly ash as adsorbent for the removal of Chrysoidine R from the aqueous solution. The fly ash is a major byproduct generated in coal-based thermal power plants and has good potential for use as an adsorbent. A series of experiments were carried out in a batch adsorption technique to obtain the effect of process variables viz contact time, pH (2, 4, 6 and 8) initial concentration of the dye (400, 600, 800 and 1000 mg L-1), amount of the adsorbent (125, 250, 375 and 500 mg L-1), and temperature (303, 313, 323 and 333 K) on adsorption. The concentration of dye was determined by spectrophotometer. The results showed that as the amount of the adsorbent was increased, the percentage of dye removal increased accordingly; higher adsorption percentage was observed at lower concentration of chrysoidine. The adsorption data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The adsorption was found to obey pseudo-first order kinetics. An intra particle diffusion model was used to fit the experimental data. The thermodynamic parameters such as standard change in free energy, enthalpy and entropy of adsorption have been calculated. Adsorption of Chrysoidine R on fly ash was found to be an exothermic reaction. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.