A series of novel silica-based hybrid adsorbents were prepared by the crosslinking reaction of N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] ethylene diamine (TMSPEDA) with epichlorohydrin (ECH) via a sol-gel process. Fourier transforminfrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed that the reaction occurred. TGA curves showed that the thermal stability of these hybrid adsorbents reached as high as 180 degrees C. As a typical example, the adsorption performance of nickel(II) ions onto an adsorbent (the volume ratio of TMSPEDA and ECH was 4:1) was explored. It was found that the adsorption of nickel(II) ions onto this adsorbent followed the Lagergren pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The investigation of the adsorption mechanism demonstrated that nickel(II) adsorption was chiefly controlled by diffusion-chemisorption, suggesting that more diffusion processes were involved in the adsorption of nickel(II) ions onto this type of adsorbents. Desorption experiment indicates that these hybrid adsorbents can be regenerated. These findings reveal that this type of silica-based hybrid adsorbent is promising in the separation and recovery of nickel(II) ions from Ni-containing wastewater or contaminated water. (C) 2016 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.