As huge amounts of hazardous dyes from different industries are causing water pollution, the removal of these compounds from a process or waste effluents becomes a crucial environmental importance. The adsorption method has been found to handle large quantities without the formation of hazardous substances. In spite of the efficiency of the adsorption technique, the high cost of the adsorbent materials is a stumbling block for large scale applications. An eco-friendly, low-cost and efficient adsorbent has been prepared for wastewater management. Hydrolyzed and sulphonated styrene maleic anhydride copolymers, were mixed with chitosan to form nano-polyelectrolyte complexes. Structure, particle size and thermal behavior of the complexes were investigated by spectral and thermogravimetric analyses. The hydrolyzed and sulphonated styrene maleic anhydride chitosan complexes (H-SMA-CS and S-SMA-CS) were examined for the adsorption of Congo red and Maxilon blue as anionic and cationic dyes, respectively. The experimental data of adsorption were found to fit the pseudo-second-order kinetic. The maximum adsorption capacities of Congo red were 234 and 116 mg/g where those of Maxilon blue were 702 and 1830 mg/g on S-SMA-CS and H-SMA-CS, respectively. The isotherm results were well fitted by the Freundlich isotherm.