In this study, environmentally friendly TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TO-CNF)/ polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/polyethyleneimine (PEI) nanoparticles were obtained by assembling PEI into TO-CNF/PVA aerogel, which was prepared by freezedrying method with the help of glutaraldehyde. FTIR results showed that PEI likely assembled into the TO-CNF/PVA aerogel due to appearances of bending vibration of the TO-CNF/PVA/PEI nanoparticles at 1615 cm -1 . BET results further demonstrated that PEI have successfully assembled into the aerogel since the specific surface area (22.93 m 2 /g) of TO-CNF/PVA / PEI nanoparticles was lower than that (56.37 m 2 /g) of TO-CNF/PVA aerogel. SEM results also showed that PEI could obviously regulate the morphology of TO-CNF/PVA aerogel. TGA indicated that TO-CNF/ PVA/PEI nanoparticles were structurally stable at 216.4 °C. The adsorption kinetics of the TO-CNF/ PVA/PEI nanoparticles for copper ion (Cu 2? ) removal presented good correlations with the Pseudo-secondorder kinetic and Langmuir model (R 2 [ 0.99). Its maximum adsorption capacity for Cu 2? according to Langmuir model was 156.8 mg/g. The adsorption equilibrium could reach in near one hour, and the adsorption efficiency could still maintain more than 80% after 3 cycles.