Sorption of mercury from aqueous solution by dithiocarbamate grafted on silica gel was investigated. The influence of pH, Hg2+ concentration, time, temperature, and presence of various anions and complexing agents on the sorption of mercury was studied. The sorption data obtained as a function of mercury concentration was fitted into a Langmuir adsorption model, which showed a sorption capacity of similar to61 mg/g. Kinetic data indicated a very rapid sorption in the early stages of equilibration. The endothermic enthalpy change accompanied by the sorption of mercury from 0.1 M HCl media was found to decrease from 44.7 to 24.4 kJ/mol when the initial concentration of mercury was increased from 7.5 x 10(-4) to 1.5 x 10(-3) M.