Adsorption of reactive orange 16 by quaternary chitosan salt (QCS) was used as a model to demonstrate the removal of reactive dyes from textile effluents. The polymer was characterized by infrared (IR), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXS) analyses and amount of quaternary ammonium groups. The adsorption experiments were conducted at different pH values and initial dye concentrations. Adsorption was shown to be independent of solution pH. Three kinetic adsorption models were tested: pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion. The experimental data best fitted the pseudo-second-order model, which provided a constant velocity, k(2), of 9.18 x 10(-4) g mg(-1) min(-1) for a 500 mg L-1 solution and a value of k(2), of 2.70 x 10(-5) g mg(-1) min(-1) for a 1000 mg L-1 solution. The adsorption rate was dependent on dye concentration at the surface of the adsorbent for each time period and on the amount of dye adsorbed. The Langmuir isotherm model provided the best fit to the equilibrium data in the concentration range investigated and from the isotherm linear equation, the maximum adsorption capacity determined was 1060 mg of reactive dye per gram of adsorbent, corresponding to 75% occupation of the adsorption sites. The results obtained demonstrate that the adsorbent material could be utilized to remove dyes from textile effluents independent of the pH of the aqueous medium. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.