a b s t r a c tA new carboxylated-functionalized sugarcane bagasse (STA) was prepared through the esterification of sugarcane bagasse with trimellitic anhydride. The optimized synthesis conditions yield STA with a percent weight gain of 73.9% and the number of carboxylic acid groups accounted for 3.78 mmol/g. STA was characterized by FTIR, elemental analysis, TGA, PZC, and SEM. Adsorption kinetics followed a pseudosecond-order model. The adsorption rate constant showed the following order: k 2,Ni 2+ > k 2,Cu 2+ > k 2,Co 2+ . Four mono-and multi-component isotherm models were used to model the adsorption systems. Monocomponent experimental data were fitted to Langmuir and Sips models; whereas, multicomponent data were fitted to modified extended Langmuir and P-factor models. The maximum adsorption capacities (Q max,mono ) obtained from the Langmuir model were 1.140, 1.197, and 1.563 mmol/g for Co 2+ , Cu 2+ , and Ni 2+ , respectively. The competitive studies demonstrated that the multicomponent adsorption capacity (Q max,multi ) was smaller than Q max,mono , as a result of the interaction between the metal ions. Desorption studies showed that all metal ions could be fully desorbed from STA.