Wholly heterocycles-based polyamide-sulfide (PAS) containing pyridine and thiazole rings with thioether linkage was synthesized and used as a novel adsorbent for lead ion removal from water. The polymer adsorbent was fully characterized via FTIR, NMR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal properties of the synthesized polyamide were also studied by thermogravimetric analysis and the outcome showed that the polymer has a good to moderate thermal stability. The SEM was used to investigate the morphology of the wholly heterocycles-based polyamide and the outcomes displayed a porous and globular-like morphology, which guarantee effective metal adsorption. Pb(II) ion removal capacity of the synthesized polymer was studied by varying the contact time and the adsorbent concentration. The maximum removal of Pb(II) was obtained as 99%. Equilibrium behavior and kinetic of the adsorption were also investigated using prevalent isotherm and kinetic models. The adsorption capacity was obtained to be around 714 mg g−1. The Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second order kinetic model suggested superior agreement with the equilibrium and kinetic adsorption data, respectively. Generally, the results of this research demonstrated that the synthesized polymer is a super-adsorbent for heavy metal removal from water.
