In this study, poly (methacrylic acid) modified biomass was prepared to improve the adsorption capacities for three dyes: methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RB) and basic magenta (BM). FTIR and potentiometric titration demonstrated that a large number of carboxyl groups were introduced on the biomass surface, and the concentration of the functional group was calculated to be 1.4 mmol g(-1) by using the first and second derivative method. According to the Langmuir equation, the maximum uptake capacities (q(m)) for MB, RB and BM were 869.6, 2674 and 719.4 mg g(-1), which were 17-, 11- and 12-fold of that obtained on the unmodified biomass, respectively. Adsorption kinetics study showed that the completion of the adsorption process needed only 70 min, which is faster than that occur with the common sorbent Such as activated carbon and resin. Temperature and ionic strength experiment showed that they both had effect on the adsorption capacity of the modified biomass. Good result was obtained when the modified biomass was used to treat dye wastewater. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.