We have investigated adsorption of Hg(II). Fe(III), Pb(II), Ag(I) and Zn(II) from aqueous solutions utilizing functionalized polyacrylonitrile sorbents. By a rapid, simple, and economically feasible route, aminecontaining resins based on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were prepared through the reaction of polyacrylonitrile with numerous content of diethylenetriamine (DTA), (PAN-DTA50, and PA-DTA 150). The resins and its metal complexes were studied by FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was utilized in order to study the surface morphologies. Consequences of analysis verified the presence of metal in the metal-resin complexes. The sorption behavior of the resins for these ions proved that high sorption can be obtained at higher pH values. The highest sorptions for PAN-DTA150 were found to be 1.38 and 1.42 mmol/g for Zn(II) and Fe(III), respectively. The dependency of amine capacity of the resins on the content of DTA consumption has been confirmed and the maximum capacity of amine was approximately found to be 5 mmol/g for the PAN-DTA50. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.