In this paper, nanoparticles of delafossite-type LiCo0.5Fe0.5O2 were prepared by sol-gel method in the presence of maleic acid as a chelating agent. The nanoparticles were characterized using differential thermal analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. The nanoparticles showed the excellent adsorption properties towards reactive dye, reactive blue 5 (RB5). The adsorption studies were carried out at different pH values, various adsorbent dosages and contact time in a batch experiments. The kinetic studies indicate that the removal process obeys the second-order kinetic equation. Also, the isotherm evaluations reveal that the adsorption of RB5 by the nanoparticles follows the Freundlich model. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.