The development of ecofriendly sorbents for fast and efficient removal of heavy metals from aqueous media still remains a significant challenge. Here, we report that this task can be addressed by creating a porous naturally occurring polymer, as illustrated by functionalizing lignin with large numbers of mesopores and functional groups. We show that surface-functionalized porous lignin (SFPL), obtained by a two-step process, has a large surface area of 22.3 m2/g, 12 times that of lignin, and a high density of dithiocarbamate groups (2.8 mmol/g). SFPL was found to exhibit an excellent adsorption performance toward lead ions dissolved in water. For example, 99% of the lead ions from 50 mL of a solution containing 20 mg/L lead ions was removed in just 30 min by 0.01 g of SFPL. The saturated adsorption capacity of SFPL for lead ions was found to be 188 mg/g, which is 13 times that of the original lignin and 7 times that of activated carbon. The adsorption process is endothermic and involves intraparticle diffusion and chemical adsorption between lead ions and the functional groups of SFPL. The cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness of SFPL make it a promising material for removing lead and other heavy metals from wastewater.Keywords: adsorption; lead; lignin; porous; surface functionalization;

•A porous lignin-based sphere was prepared from lignosulfonate by a gelation method.•The porous lignin-based sphere (PLS) had a high porosity and pore volume.•The PLS showed high adsorption efficiency for lead ions from aqueous media.•Bed column test proved the potential of PLS for continuous treatment of effluent.A green porous lignin-based sphere (PLS) had been fabricated by a feasible gelation-solidification method from lignosulfonate cross-linked with sodium alginate and epichlorohydrin. The prepared sphere was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and thermo gravimetric analysis. The results demonstrated the PLS had a large amount of mesopores (d = 20.7 nm) with a high porosity of 87.66% and a total pore volume of 0.416 cm3/g. Batchwise adsorption experiments indicated the PLS possessed excellent adsorption efficiency (95.6 ± 3.5%) for lead ions at an initial concentration of 25.0 mg/L. The adsorption process could be well fitted by intra-particle diffusion model and Langmuir isotherm model. Application of the PLS in bed column mode for the continuous treatment of lead solution exhibited prolonged breakthrough time from 75 min to 100 min as the bed column heights increased from 0.5 cm to 2.5 cm which was much better than the alkaline lignin column (2.5 cm height, breakthrough time = 60 min). The results strongly suggested the high possibility of the porous sphere being applied for the continuous treatment of heavy metals rich wastewater in industry.