Biosorption of lead(II) ions from aqueous solution onto the seed husk of Calophyllum inophyllum was investigated in a batch system. Equilibrium, thermodynamics and kinetic studies were conducted by considering the effects of pH, initial metal ion concentration, contact time, and temperature. The results showed that the uptake of the metal ions increased with increase in initial metal ion concentration. The pH for optimum adsorption was 4 for the Pb(II) ions (q = 4.86 mg/g and 97.2% adsorption). Langmuir isotherm described the biosorption of Pb(II) ions onto the biomass (R-2 = 0.9531) better than the Freundlich model (R-2 = 0.7984), and the Temkin model (R-2 = 0.8761). Biosorption kinetics data obtained for the metal ions sorption were fitted using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order. It was found that the kinetics data fitted well into the pseudo-second-order kinetics. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy (Delta G), standard enthalpy (Delta H) and standard entropy (Delta S) were evaluated. The result showed that biosorption of the metal ion onto C. inophyllum biomass was spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The results of FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) revealed that carboxyl, amine, and hydroxyl groups on the biomass surface were involved in the adsorption of Pb(II) ions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.