The adsorption of reactive dye (Reactive Red 189) from aqueous solutions on cross-linked chitosan beads was studied in a batch system. The equilibrium isotherms at different particle sizes (2.3-2.5, 2.5-2.7 and 3.5-3.8 mm) and the kinetics of adsorption with respect to the initial dye concentration (4320, 5760 and 7286 g/m(3)), temperature (30, 40 and 50degreesC), pH (1.0, 3.0, 6.0 and 9.0), and cross-linking ratio (cross-linking agent/chitosan weight ratio: 0.2, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0) were investigated. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were applied to describe the experimental isotherms and isotherm constants. Equilibrium data fitted very well to the Langmuir model in the entire saturation concentration range (0-1800 g/m(3)). The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities obtained from the Langmuir model are very large, which are 1936,1686and 1642 g/kg for small, mediumand large particle sizes, respectively, at pH 3,0, 30degreesC, and the cross-linking ratio of 0.2. The pseudo first- and second-order kinetic models were used to describe the kinetic data, and the rate constants were evaluated. The experimental data fitted well to the second-order kinetic model, which indicates that the chemical sorption is the rate-limiting step, instead of mass transfer. The initial dye concentration and the solution pH both significantly affect the adsorption capacity, but the temperature and the cross-linking ratio are relatively minor factors. An increase in initial dye concentration results in the increase of adsorption capacity, which also increases with decreasing pH. The activation energy is 43.0 kJ/mol for the adsorption of the dye on the cross-linked chitosan beads at pH 3.0 and initial dye concentration 3768 g/m(3). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.