In the present study, PS@alpha-Fe2O3 nanocomposites were prepared by chemical microemulsion polymerization approach and the ability of magnetic beads to remove Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions in a batch media was investigated. Various physico-chemical parameters such as pH, initial metal ion concentration, temperature, and equilibrium contact time were also studied. Adsorption mechanism of Cu2+ ions onto magnetic polymeric adsorbents has been investigated using Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and Redlich-Petersen isotherms. The results demonstrated that the PS@alpha-Fe2O3 nanocomposite is an effective adsorbent for Cu2+ ions removal. The Sips adsorption isotherm model (R-2 > 0.99) was more in consistence with the adsorption isotherm data of Cu(II) ions compared to other models and the maximum adsorbed amount of copper was 34.25 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics well fitted to a pseudo second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic parameters (Delta H degrees, Delta S degrees, and Delta G degrees) were calculated from the temperature dependent sorption isotherms, and the results suggested that copper adsorption was a spontaneous and exothermic process. (C) 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers