Abstract: The removal of copper (Cu (Ⅱ)) from wastewater by composite adsorbent bentonite-chitosan was studied. Characterization of the adsorbent was performed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of contact time, chitosan fraction, adsorption temperature and pH were investigated. Results showed that composite adsorbent had a better adsorption capacity than that of bentonite. Compared with bentonite, the shape of bentonite-chitosan was irregular, and its surface was rough and loose. The adsorption amount of Cu (Ⅱ) could reach the maximum of 20.12 mg/g on the conditions of initial concentration of Cu (Ⅱ) 50 mg/L, pH 7.0, adsorption temperature 30℃, and contact time 15 min. Furthermore, both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models could well fit the isothermal adsorption of Cu (Ⅱ) on the two adsorbents. The adsorption process of Cu (Ⅱ) on bentonite-chitosan conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation.