Unburned carbon in fly ash is an important by-product from coal combustion. In this investigation, unburned carbon has been separated from fly ash and been employed as a low cost adsorbent for a basic dye adsorption (Rhodamine B) in aqueous solution. Adsorption isotherm and kinetics of adsorption have been investigated using batch experiments. It is found that dye adsorption capacity depends on initial concentration, pH of solution, and temperature. The adsorption isotherm can be described by Langmuir model and the adsorption capacity of Rhodamine B at 30, 40, and 50 degrees C can reach 9.7 x 10(-5), 1.14 x 10(-4), and 1.5 x 10(-4) mol g(-1), respectively. The pseudo first- and second-order kinetic models have been employed to fit the dynamic adsorption. It is found that the dynamic adsorption follows the pseudo second-order model. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that the adsorption is endothermic reaction with Delta H degrees at 25 kJ mol(-1). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.