Cellulose acetate (CA) nonwoven membrane for heavy metal ion adsorption was prepared by electrospinning and surface modification with poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) The morphology and graft modification of the membrane were characterized by SEM and ATR-FTIR The adsorption of heavy metal ions Cu2+ Hg2+ and Cd2+ on this membrane was investigated The adsorption capacity increased with the increasing of initial pH value in the system This membrane has quite high adsorption selectivity for Hg2+ The adsorbed metal ions can be easily de-adsorbed from the membrane surface by using saturated ethylenedinitrilo tetraacetic acid solution and can be re-used for the metal ion adsorption (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved