In this study, we explored a new ion exchange material synthesized by radical polymerization of styrene and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid by using 2,2'-azo-isobutyronitrile (I mol %) and divinylbenzene (0.5 mol %) as initiator and crosslinking reagents, respectively. The resin was obtained from a large excess (90%) of styrene in the feed. The yield was 72.3%. The resin was completely insoluble in water and characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and thermal analysis. The metal ion retention capability was investigated for Ag(l), Hg(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), and Cr(III). The effect of pH, time, and resin/metal ion mol ratio on the metal ion retention was studied. Selectivity of the resins from a mixture of metal ions and the maximum retention capacity at optimum pH were also determined. The recovery of the resin by using 1 and 4 M HCIO4 and HNO3 demonstrated that it is possible to recover the resin above 80%. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.