A novel and specific modified cellulose acetate cigarette filter is obtained. The modification includes immersing of the filter into a mixture solution of oxidized multi-wall carbon nanotubes (o-MWNTs) and graphene oxide (GO), followed by lyophilization. During this process, the o-MWNT5/GO composite has been coated on the surface of cellulose acetate in the cigarette filter, with an o-MWNTs:GO:filter weight ratio of 1:1:62. Our experiments illustrated that the modified cigarette filter exhibits favorable adsorption behavior toward heavy metals, which has shown excellent performance for the removal of cadmium and chromium from mainstream smoke. The o-MWNTs/GO modified cigarette filter is demonstrated to be superior to those modified by other moieties, e.g., chitosan, active carbon, o-MWNTs and GO in the removal of heavy metals from mainstream smoke. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the original characteristics of the filter are still maintained. 4 mg of the o-MWNTs/GO modified cigarette filter at a length of 25 mm is applied for the removal of cadmium and chromium from five brands of cigarettes, giving rise to removal efficiencies of 63-79%. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.