The leached residue, generated after selective extraction of Cu, Ni, and Co in sulfur dioxide-ammonia leaching of manganese nodules, was characterized and batch isothermal adsorption experiments were conducted at ambient temperature to evaluate the effectiveness of the water-washed leached residue for removal of different bivalent metal ions from aqueous synthetic solutions. The effects of pH, initial metal ion concentrations, amount of adsorbent, interfering ions, and heat treatment were also investigated. The uptake of metal ions increased with increasing pH. Under identical conditions the adsorption capacity increased in the order Cd2+ < Cu2+ < Pb2+. The adsorption kinetics was found to follow a first-order rate expression and the experimental equilibrium adsorption data fitted reasonably well to both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Various metal ions present in the leached residue were found to be released during adsorption of heavy metals, which decreased with increased pH and were practically negligible at pH similar to 6.0. Desorption of adsorbed metal ions from metal-loaded leached residue and its regeneration ability were also studied. The results obtained could be useful for considering the leached manganese nodules residue as adsorbent for removal of heavy metal ions from contaminated water bodies. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All fights reserved.