In the present work, we report a chemically modified polyacrylamide/silica nanoporous composite adsorbent for the removal of reactive black 5 (RB5) azo dye from aqueous solutions. The composite adsorbent was synthesized in a packed bed and modified by ethylenediamine (EDA). The adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transformation infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), thermoporometry, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) method and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Mechanical stability of the adsorbent was examined in a packed bed by following the back-pressure of the column. Pore diameter of the composite adsorbent in dry and wet states was estimated to be about 18.71 nm and 12.61 nm, respectively. Adsorption experiments were performed in batch mode and effect of various operational parameters on the adsorption capability of the adsorbent was studied systematically. The maximum adsorption capacity of the modified composites was found to be 454.5 mg RB5/g of adsorbent. The equilibrium data were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips, BET and Redlich-Peterson isotherm models and found to fit well to the BET isotherm. The data kinetically followed the pseudo-second-order model. High adsorption capacity, fast removal mechanism, and good mechanical stability are three advantages of the presented composite for the removal of RB5. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.