Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) rods with Al doping varying from 0 to 20% were successfully prepared via a solvothermal method. ZnO:Al rods exhibit the hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structure and their length were found to decrease from 127 to 12 nm when increasing the dopant percentage from 0 to 20%. Simultaneously, their specific surface area increased from ca. 21 to 82 m(2)/g. ZnO:Al (20%) rods exhibit high adsorption capability towards some negatively charged dyes like Orange II, Acid red 88 or Alizarin, which was attributed to the high specific surface of ZnO:Al rods and to the defects induced by the Al doping as demonstrated by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.