Magnetically modified zeolite (MMZ) composite with a high magnetism and adsorption property was synthesized and the adsorption capacity of natural and modified substrates was determined for Pb2+ ions removal. The modified system was obtained by the adhesion of Fe3O4 onto the surface of Na-zeolite by carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC) coating. The structure, morphology and magnetic property of MMZ were characterized by XRD, N-2 sorption, SEM-EDAX, and VSM. The results showed that no obvious change can be observed for the crystal structure of MMZ compared to the Na-zeolite, but the BET surface area increased from 25.15 m(2)/g (V-micropores = 0.1018 cm(3)/g) to 28.12 m(2)/g (V-micropores = 0.1157 cm(3)/g). Moreover, the results showed that the adsorption capacity of the modified forms treated at different pH initially increased and then decreased with an increase in the pH of the solution and the maximum adsorption capacity reached at an equilibrium pH of around 4.0. Furthermore, obtained results revealed that the equilibrium sorption capacity on each substrate increased with the increase of initial concentration and the maximum amount of Pb2+ ions adsorbed on MMZ and Na-zeolite was 84.00 mg/g and 66.96 mg/g, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm model fits very well with the results obtained from the adsorption data on MMZ and Na-zeolite and the monolayer saturation adsorption of Pb2+ ions adsorbed on MMZ was 85.62 mg/g. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.