The mesoporous carbon CMK-3 adsorbent was prepared, characterized, and used for the removal of anionic methyl orange dye from aqueous solution. Adsorption experiments were carried out as batch studies at different contact time, pH, initial dye concentration, and salt concentration. The dye adsorption equilibrium was rapidly attained after 60 min of contact time. Removal of dye in acidic solutions was better than in basic solutions. The adsorption of dye increased with increasing initial dye concentration and salt concentration. The equilibrium data were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich models, which revealed that Langmuir model was more suitable to describe the methyl orange adsorption than Freundlich model. Experimental data were analyzed using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. It was found that kinetics followed a pseudo-second-order equation. Thermodynamic study showed that the adsorption was a spontaneous and exothermic process. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.