A new ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) material was synthesized by copolymerization of 4-vinylpyridine as monomer, ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate as crosslinking agent and 2,2'-azobis-sobutyronitrile as initiator in the presence of Ni-dithizone complex. The IIP was used as sorbent in a solid-phase extraction column. The effects of sampling volume, elution conditions, sample pH and sample flow rate on the extraction of Ni ions form water samples were studied. The maximum adsorption capacity and the relative selectivity coefficients of imprinted polymer for Ni(II)/Co(II), Ni(II)/Cu(II) and Ni(II)/Cd(II) were calculated. Compared with non-imprinted polymer particles, the lip had higher selectivity for Ni(II). The relative selectivity factor (alpha(r)) values of Ni(II)/Co(II), Ni(II)/Cu(II) and Ni(II)/Cd(II) were 21.6, 54.3, and 22.7, respectively. which are greater than 1. The relative standard deviation of the five replicate determinations of Ni(II) was 3.4%. The detection limit for 150 mL. of sample was 1.6 mu g L-1 using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of trace nickel in water samples with satisfactory results. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.