Synthesis of two unconventional ion exchange resins and their behaviour on the mercury sorption experiments were investigated. The ion exchange resins were obtained by the quaternization reaction of 4-vinylpyridine:divinylbenzene copolymer, gel-type, by two ways namely, the nucleophilic substitution of the pyridine matrix with 2-chloroacetamide and the nucleophilic addition of protonated copolymer to acrylamide. Comparative sorptions of Hg2+ ions on the synthesized pyridine resins by batch experiments in mono- and binary system were analyzed. Mercury retention experiments aimed to study the influence of the solution concentration, contact time and solution pH. The removal of Hg2+ ions from aqueous solutions depends on the pH values, the amount of the retained mercury increased with the pH value. The studied strong base pyridine anion exchange resins presented a good selectivity for the Hg2+ ions during the competitive sorption of Hg2+/cU(2+), Hg2+/Zn2+ and Hg2+/Fe3+ at metal cations ratio of 1:1. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.