Chelating resins have been considered to be suitable materials for the recovery of heavy metals in water treatments. A chelating resin based on modified poly(styrene-alt-maleic anhydride) with 2-aminopyridine was synthesized. This modified resin was further reacted with 1,2-diaminoethan or 1,3-diaminopropane in the presence of ultrasonic irradiation for the preparation of a tridimensional chelating resin on the nanoscale for the recovery of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. The adsorption behavior of Fe2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and Pb2+ ions were investigated by the synthesis of chelating resins at various pH's. The prepared resins showed a good tendency for removing the selected metal ions from aqueous solution, even at acidic pH. Also, the prepared resins were examined for the removal of metal ions from industrial wastewater and were shown to be very efficient at adsorption in the cases of Cu2+, Fe2+, and Pb2+. However; the adsorption of Zn2+ was lower than those of the others. The resin was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 127: 2875-2883, 2013