A viscose-rayon-based activated carbon cloth (ACC) was electrochemically oxidized to enhance its cation sorption capacity for comparison with as-received ACC. The ACCs were characterized by sodium capacity measurement, pH titration, zeta potential measurement, elemental analysis, Brunauer-Emmet-Teller surface area, and pore size distribution. Batch sorption experiments showed that electrochemically oxidized ACC (EO) is more effective for the removal of lead and copper ions compared to unoxidized ACC (UO) for both competitive and noncompetitive sorption. For electrochemically oxidized fibers the copper and lead sorption capacities of ACC increased 17 and 4 times, respectively, for noncompetitive sorption and 8.8 and 8.6 times, respectively, for competitive sorption. However, reduction in the sorption capacities for both metals was observed for the competitive sorption. The sorption of lead and copper onto EO was by ion exchange, while that onto UO was likely to be due to surface complex formation. The affinity order of the two metal ions sorbed by UO and EO is Pb2+ > Cu2+. The effect of pH on sorption isotherms indicated that metal uptake increased with an increase in solution pH. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.