N,N'-di (carboxymethyl) dithiocarbamate chelating resin (PSDC) was synthesized by anchoring the chelating agent of N,N'-di (carboxymethyl) dithiocarbamate to the chloromethylated PS-DVB (Cl-PS-DVB) matrix as a new adsorbent for removing divalent heavy metal ions from waste-stream. The physicochemical structures of Cl-PS-DVB and PSDC were elaborately characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis (EA), and were further morphologically characterized using BET and BJH methods. The adsorption performances of PSDC towards heavy metals such as Cu(II), Pb(II) and Ni(II) were systematically investigated, based upon which the adsorption mechanisms were deeply exploited. For the above target, the classic batch adsorption experiments were conducted to explore the kinetics and isotherms of the removal processes with pH-value, initial concentration, temperature, and contact time as the controlling parameters. The kinetic and isotherm data could be well elucidated with Lagergren-second-order equation and Langmuir model respectively. The strong affinity of PSDC toward these target soft acids could be well demonstrated with the electrostatic attraction and chelating interaction caused by IDA moiety and sulphur which were namely soft bases on the concept of hard and soft acids and bases (HASB). Thermodynamic parameters, involving Delta H degrees, Delta S degrees and Delta G degrees were also calculated from graphical interpretation of the experimental data. The standard heats of adsorption (Delta H degrees) were found to be endothermic and the entropy change values (Delta S degrees) were calculated to be positive for the adsorption of Cu(II), Pb(II) and Ni(II) ions onto the tested adsorbents. Negative values of Delta G degrees indicated that adsorption processes for all tested metal ions onto PSDC were spontaneous. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.