An activated carbon was prepared from durian shell and used for the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions. The activated carbon was prepared using chemical activation method with potassium hydroxide as the activating agent. The activation was conducted at 673.15 K for 1 h with mass ratio of chemical activating agent to durian shell 1:2. Batch kinetics and isotherm studies were conducted to evaluate the adsorption behavior of the activated carbon from durian shell. The adsorption experiments were carried out isothermally at three different temperatures. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm model were used to describe the equilibria data. The Langnmir model agrees with experimental data well. The Langmuir surface kinetics, pseudo first order and pseudo second order models were used to evaluate the kinetics data and the rate constant were also determined. The experimental data fitted very well with the Langmuir surface kinetics and pseudo first order model. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.