ABSTRACT:In this paper, a method is designed for surface grafting of polymer containing a functional monomer for metal chelating, poly[dimethylacrylamide-co-allyl acetoacetate] (poly[DMAA-co-AA]) onto zinc oxide nanoparticles modified by 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane. The resulting nanosorbent was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The preconcentration and determination of trace amount of Cd(II) ions was evaluated in human biological fluid, environmental water samples, and milk. The optimum pH value for sorption of the metal ion was 6. The sorption capacity of grafted sorbent was 46.1 mg g −1 . A high recovery of Cd(II) ions was in the range of 95-103% with 1 M hydrochloric acid as eluting factor. The profile of cadmium uptake by the nanosorbent indicated high accessibility of active chelating sites in poly[DMAA-co-AA]-grafted modified zinc oxide nanoparticles. The equilibrium adsorption data of Cd(II) by synthesized sorbent were investigated by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Redlich-Peterson models. C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 2018, 37, 21636; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.