Biosorption of Pb(II) on bael leaves (Aegle marmelos) was investigated for the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution using different doses of adsorbent. initial pH, and contact time. The maximum Pb loading capacity of the bael leaves was 104 mg g(-1) at 50 mg L-1 initial Pb(II) concentration at pH 5.1. SEM and FT-IR studies indicated that the adsorption of Pb(II) occurs inside the wall of the hollow tubes present in the bael leaves and carboxylic acid, thioester and sulphonamide groups are involved in the process. The sorption process was best described by pseudo second order kinetics. Among Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms, the latter had a better fit with the experimental data. The activation energy E-a confirmed that the nature of adsorption was physisorption. Bael leaves can selectively remove Pb(II) in the presence of other metal ions. This was demonstrated by removing Pb from the effluent of exhausted batteries. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.