Adsorption has been proven to be the most efficient method for quickly lowering the concentration of dissolved dyes in an effluent. In this regard, activated carbon is the most widely used adsorbent for removal of dyes from aqueous solution. However, the high cost of production and regeneration make it uneconomical. Therefore, inorganic adsorbents (e. g. zeolites) with high surface areas have been used as alternatives to carbon adsorbents. Microporous zeolites ZSM-5, NH4-Beta, MCM-22 and mesoporous materials MCM-41 have been investigated for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions and they show effective adsorption performance. SBA-15 possesses a larger pore size and pore wall thickness than MCM-41. As a result, SBA-15 has greater potential for the adsorption of methylene blue with larger molecule size and higher hydrothermal stability than the M41S family. SBA-15 is an excellent adsorbent for methylene blue (MB), exhibiting 280 mg g(-1) adsorption capacity and about 100% fading rate for MB. The adsorptive process is so fast that adsorption equilibrium is achieved in 5 min. In addition, SBA-15 can be effectively recovered by calcination and reused 10 times without significant loss in removal of MB from aqueous solution. The efficient adsorption of MB molecules onto SBA-15 was ascribed to MB adsorbed into the pore channels of SBA-15, which was confirmed by nitrogen physisorption analysis of the adsorbent before and after adsorption. The long reuse life of the adsorbent suggests a high potential for application in industry. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry