The remediation of wastewaters contaminated with dyes (discharged mainly from industry) is very important for preserving environmental quality and human health. In this study, a new composite chitosan (CS)-based adsorbent combined with activated carbon (AC) and curcumin (Cur) (abbreviated hereafter as CS/AC@Cur) in three different ratios (12.5%, 25%, and 50%) was synthesized for the removal of anionic [reactive black 5 (RB5)] and cationic [methylene blue (MB)] dyes in single-component or binary systems. The synthesized materials were completely characterized through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, and X-ray diffraction. Specifically, a decrease in the surface area of CS/AC@ was observed with the addition of curcumin, from 163 to 18 m