The surfactant sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate based tin(IV) phosphate (AOT-SnP) fibrous ion exchanger has been synthesized and characterized by using different physico-chemical methods. The characterization of the exchanger was performed by using infrared (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental analysis. The ion exchange property was studied by determining the ion exchange capacity, elution and concentration behavior of the cation exchanger. The thermal behavior of exchanger was studied by performing ion exchange capacity at different temperatures. Adsorption studies on the synthesized material showed that it is highly selective for Cd2+, Zn2+ and Hg2+ ions. Therefore, the separation of Cd2+, Zn2+ and Hg2+ ions from the synthetic waste water has been performed on its column and observed to be quite effective in presence of acid, alkali, alkaline earth and other transition metals. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.