A high efficient and eco-friendly sugarcane cellulose-based adsorbent was prepared in an attempt to remove Pb2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ from aqueous solutions. The effects of initial concentration of heavy metal ions and temperature on the adsorption capacity of the bioadsorbent were investigated. The adsorption isotherms showed that the adsorption of Pb2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ followed the Langmuir model and the maximum adsorptions were as high as 558.9, 446.2 and 363.3 mg.g(-1), respectively, in single component system. The binary component system was better described with the competitive Langmuir isotherm model. The three dimensional sorption surface of binary component system demonstrated that the presence of Pb2+ decreased the sorption of Cu2+, but the adsorption amount of other metal ions was not affected. The result from SEM-EDAX revealed that the adsorption of metal ions on bioadsorbent was mainly driven by coordination, ion exchange and electrostatic association. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.