Natural clinoptilolite tuff was mechanically converted to micro (MCP) and nano (NCP) particles. The MCP and NCP powders were respectively modified with hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (HDTMA) and dithizone (DTZ). The raw and modified samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformation infra red (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and thermogravimetry (TG) and used for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution. The results confirm that both ion exchange and complexation processes are responsible for removal of Pb(II) cations in the modified samples, while Pb(II) cations were only removed via an ion exchange process by the raw clinoptilolite. In this sorbent, the anionic removal property of surfactant modified zeolites (SMZs) changed to cationic removal property by an additional modification step. The best removal efficiency was observed by NCP-HDTMA-DTZ at the following experimental conditions: C-pb(II): 800 mg L-1, HDTMA dosage: 0.2 mol L-1, DTZ dosage: 5 mmol L-1, contact time of DTZ with NCP-HDTMA: 1800 min and contact time of the sorbent with Pb(II): 360 min. The NCP-HDTMA-DTZ sorbent showed good efficiency for the removal of lead in the presence of different multivalent cations. Adsorption isotherms of Pb(II) ions obey the Langmuir equation that indicate the monolayer sorption of Pb(II). The adsorption kinetics based on the pseudo-second-order rate equation indicates that the rate limiting step involving a chemical reaction. The negative Delta H and Delta G indicate an exothermic and spontaneous process. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.