This study presents the adsorption of cationic drug, promethazine hydrochloride from aqueous solution onto K 10 montmorillonite. The effects of pH and temperature on adsorption process were investigated. Maximum adsorption pH was obtained to be about 7.5. Thermodynamic parameters found in this study depict the exothermic nature of adsorption. The process was favorable and spontaneous. From kinetic studies, it was found that adsorption process obeyed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms and the isotherm constants were determined. The fit of the Langmuir and DR models appeared to be good. Physisorption mainly controls the whole adsorption process but chemisorption also shows a particular contribution. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.