A new type of biosorbent able to bind anionic metals was developed by cross-linking of waste biomass Escherichia coil with polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH). The PAH-modified biomass was investigated for the removal and recovery of Pd(II), in the chloro-complex form, from aqueous solution. The performance of the PAH-modified biomass was evaluated in terms of the following parameters: the solution pH, contact time and initial metal concentration. In the pH edge experiments, the uptake of Pd(II) increased with increasing pH. Pd(II) biosorption proceeded rapidly in the first 10 min, with almost complete equilibrium being achieved within 60min. Moreover, the isotherm data showed that the maximum uptakes of Pd(II) were 265.3 mg/g at pH 3 and 212.9 mg/g at pH 2, respectively. After incineration of the Pd-loaded PAH-modified biomass, metallic palladium was recovered in the ash. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed that the palladium was recovered in two valency states: zero-valent and divalent palladium (as PdO). Therefore, we concluded that PAH-modified biomass is a useful and cost-effective biosorbent for the recovery of anionic precious metals as chloro-complex solutions containing hydrochloric acid produced from metal refining processes. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.