Bacterial cellulose (BC) was homogenously modified with succinic anhydride in N,N-dimethylacetamide/LiCl in the presence of triethylamine and heterogeneously in pyridine in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine. FTIR, XRD, 13C CP MAS NMR, SEM were used to characterize BC and succinylated bacterial cellulose (SBC). For homogeneous modification, the degree of substitution (DS) of SBC differs from 0.21 to 1.45 with the variation of the adding amount of succinic anhydrate, temperature, reaction time, and the amount of triethylamine. DS and XRD profiles reveal that heterogenous reaction mainly happens on the surface of BC membrane. The adsorption capacity and mechanism of Cu2+ onto BC and SBC were investigated. The result shows the adsorption is affected by the morphology and the DS of adsorbents.