Chemical modification of cellulose powder is performed by successive reactions with acrylonitrile in an alkaline medium followed by aqueous hydroxylamine to prepare amidoximated cellulose. Due to complexation, the amidoxime groups immobilize heavy cations from buffered solutions at various pH values. The capacity of adsorption for Cu(II) and Cr(III) ions is related to the amount of amidoxime groups in the support and to the metal concentration of the polluted solution. The formation of a 1/1 complex is proved by the adsorption limit values. Desorption of the cations is possible by treatment with a stronger complexing agent such as ethylenediaminetetracetic acid. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.