To enhance the adsorption capacity of chitosan for acid orange II (AOII) adsorption, a novel adsorbent, zirconium(IV) doped immobilized cross-linked chitosan/perlite (Zr(IV)-CS-PT) composite was synthesized and characterized. Batch studies were conducted to analyze the effect of different parameters on AOII adsorption, such as Zr (IV) loading amount, pH, adsorbent dosage and temperature. Also, kinetic data revealed that AOII adsorption was well described by pseudo-second order kinetic model. Langmuir adsorption isotherm model was best described the isotherm data and maximum adsorption capacity was found 476.2 mg/g at natural pH. The thermodynamic data showed that the AOII adsorption occurred spontaneously and endothermic nature. Desorption and recycle experiments showed that after six cycle the adsorption efficiency was decreased from 95.6% to 90.1%, which shows the Zr(IV)-CS-PT is a reusable, cost-effective and high adsorption capacity adsorbent.