Monoamine modified silica particles (MAMS) were prepared and characterized by infrared (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The modified silica particles were used for removal of acid orange 10 (AO-10) and acid orange 12 (AO-12) from their aqueous solutions. The adsorption behaviour of the two dyes was studied at different experimental conditions of pH, contact time, concentration of dye, temperature and salt solution. The adsorption of AO-10 followed pseudo-first order kinetics whereas AO-12 followed pseudo-second order. The two dyes showed different modes of interaction with silica surface. Desorption of the loaded dyes was carried out at pH 10 and found to be 10.4 and 91.6% for AO-12 and AO-10, respectively. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.