Chitosan biopolymer chemically modified with the complexation agent 2[-bis-(pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]-4-methyl-6-formylphenol (BPMAMF) was employed to study the kinetics and the equilibrium adsorption of Cu(II), Cd(II), and Ni(II) metal ions as functions of the pH solution. The maximum adsorption of Cu(II) was found at pH 6.0, while the Cd(II) and Ni(II) maximum adsorption occurred in acidic media, at pH 2.0 and 3.0, respectively. The kinetics was evaluated utilizing the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order equation models and the equilibrium data were analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms models. The adsorption kinetics follows the mechanism of the pseudo-second-order equation for all studied systems and this mechanism suggests that the adsorption rate of metal ions by CHS-BPMAMF depends on the number of ions on the adsorbent surface, as well as on their number at equilibrium. The best interpretation for the equilibrium data was given by the Langmuir isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacities were 109 mg g(-1) for Cu(II), 38.5 mg g(-1) for Cd(II), and 9.6 mg g(-1) for Ni(II). The obtained results show that chitosan modified with BPMAMF ligand presented higher adsorption capacity for Cu(II) in all studied pH ranges. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.