Durian peel was used for the synthesis of activated carbon used for adsorption of Basic Green 4 dye. Activated carbon was synthesised under either nitrogen (N(2)) atmospheric or vacuum pyrolysis, followed by carbon dioxide (CO(2)) activation. The synthesised activated carbon then was treated with hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution. The results showed that activated carbon synthesised under vacuum pyrolysis exhibited better properties and adsorption capacities than that under nitrogen atmospheric pyrolysis. The HCl treatment improved properties and adsorption capacities of activated carbons. Pseudo-second-order kinetics well described the adsorption of Basic Green 4. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.