An adsorbent prepared from sugarcane bagasse with chemical activation by zinc chloride was used to study its sorption potential on removing chromium(VI). In this work the application of response surface methodology (RSM) is presented for optimization of removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqua solutions using activated carbon as adsorbent. While the goal of adsorption of chromium optimization was to improve adsorption conditions in batch process, i.e., to minimize the adsorbent dose and to increase the initial concentration of Cr(VI). A 2(4) full factorial central composite design experimental design was employed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a high coefficient of determination value (R-2 = 0.99) and satisfactory prediction second-order regression model was derived. Maximum chromium removal efficiency was predicted and experimentally validated. The optimum adsorbent dose, temperature, initial concentration of Cr(VI) and initial pH of the Cr(VI) solution were found to be 6.85 g/L, 40 degrees C, 77.5 mg/l, and 8.58 respectively. Under optimal value of process parameters, high removal (>87%) was obtained for Cr(VI). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.