Three types of inorganic ion exchangers based on zirconium hydrophosphate were synthesised using the following methods: (1) phosphatising of dried zirconium hydroxide gel; (II) phosphatising of makeup zirconium hydroxide gel; (III) mixing together of ZrOCl2 and H3PO4 solutions. The influence of synthesis conditions on exchange and kinetic properties of ion exchangers were analysed. It was found that the maximal molar P:Zr ratio in ion exchanger can be reached using method (II). Copper ion mobility in ion exchangers increases with increasing P:Zr ratio. The effective diffusion coefficients of Cu2+ which were obtained by kinetic methods at pH 2.5 reaches 1.8 x 10(-13) to 7.7 x 10(-13) m(2) s(-1). (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.