Biosorption is considered to be a promising alternative to replace the present methods for the treatment of dye-containing wastewater. In this study, sewage sludge was used as a biosorbent which could be one of the cheapest and most abundant biomaterials. The objective of this work is to develop a surface-modified biosorbent with enhanced sorption capacity and binding affinity. The FT-IR and potentiometric titration studies revealed that carboxyl, phosphateand amine groups played a role in binding of dye molecules. The binding sites for reactive dye Reactive Red 4 (RR 4) were identified to be amino groups present in the biomass. In this work, based on the biosorption mechanism, the performance of biosorbentcould be enhanced by the removal of inhibitory carboxyl groups from the biomass for practical application of the biosorbents. As a result, the maximum capacity of biomass was increased up to 130% and 210% of the increment of sorption capacity at pH 2 and 4, respectively. Therefore, chemically modified sewage sludge can be used as an effective and low-cost biosorbent for the removal of dyes from industrial discharges.