Department of Chemistry, Govt. College, Kota-324 002, Rajasthan, India Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry, University of Kota, Kota-324 002, Rajasthan, India Department of Chemistry, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur-302 004, Rajasthan, India E-mail : monika. dakshene@gmail. com, ashu. uok@rediffmail.com, pdsjaipur@indiatimes .com Fax : 91-744-2472960 Manuscript received 06 September 2011, revised 22 May 2012, accepted 07 June 2012 Adipic acid is a chemical that is commonly used in the production of lubricant component, plasticizers, pharmaceutical, and rubber industries. Effluents emitted from these industries contain this chemical. It is a major cause of pollution in water system and is hazardous to the living beings. This chemical is reported to cause pain, tearing in eyes, skin irritation etc. Fly ash (FA) from coal burning power plant was activated chemically, used as a low cost adsorbent for the removal of adipic acid. The activated fly ash (AFA) was characterized for mineralogical, physiochemical and morphological properties by X-ray diffractograms (XRD), Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that activated fly ash due to increased amorphous property possesses more activity over surface to act as a suitable adsorbent for the removal of acidic waste from individual effluents. The adsorption kinetics is well represented by first order kinetic model.