The use of aluminum magnesium mixed metal hydroxide (MMH) as adsorbent to remove Reactive Brilliant Red K-2BP (RBR K-2BP), as a model anionic dye, from aqueous solution was investigated. MMH was prepared by coprecipitation and was characterized by XRD, TEM and average particle diameter. Adsorption experiments were carried out as a function of pH, contact time, concentration of dye, adsorbent dosage, and temperature. The results showed that MMH was particularly effective to remove RBR K-2BP, and that the effective pH range for the dye removal was between 4.0 and 11.0, but at pHs lower than 4, dissolution of MMH took place. A significant decline of dye adsorption occurred at pHs above the isoelectric point (IEP). The adsorption of RBR K-2BP on MMH reached equilibrium within 4 h. The appropriate adsorbent dosage was 1000mg/L The interaction between the surface sites of MMH and the dye ions may be a combination of both anion exchange and surface complexation. Three kinetic models have been evaluated to fit the experimental data. It was shown that the pseudo-second-order model best described the adsorption kinetics of RBR K-2BP on MMH. The equilibrium isotherm showed that the adsorption of RBR K-2BP onto MMH was consistent with the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. And the saturated adsorption capacity of MMH for RBR K-2BP was 657.5 mg/g. The adsorption process was endothermic in nature. MMH displayed superior treatment efficiency to the industrial dye effluents from a printing and dyeing plant with a removal efficiency of 93.8-96.7% for colored materials and 77.9-83.6% for COD. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.