A chelating resin is produced by coupling a dye calcein blue to Amberlite XAD-2 through an azo spacer. The resulting resin has been characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis and studied for the preconcentration and determination of trace Pb(II) from solution samples. The optimum pH for adsorption of lead ions was 6.5. The sorption capacity of functionalized resin is 40.22 mg g1. The chelating resin can be reused for 10 cycles without any significant changes in the sorption capacity. A recovery of 100% was obtained for Pb(II) when eluted with 0.5 M nitric acid. Scatchard analysis revealed that homogeneous binding sites were formed in the resin. The equilibrium adsorption data of Pb(II) on a modified resin were analyzed using the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models. Based on equilibrium adsorption data, the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin constants were determined as 0.044, 4.127, and 0.540 , respectively, at pH 6.5 and 20 degrees C. The method was applied for the Pb(II) assay in environmental samples. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 32: E462E473, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/adv.21293