In this study, polyvinylpyrrolidone/silica/3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (PVP/SiO2/APTES) composite nanofiber adsorbent was synthesized by electrospinning method and its application for the adsorption of Cd(II), Pb(II) and Ni(II) ions from aqueous solution in a batch mode was studied. The physicochemical properties of the adsorbent were characterized by BET, XRD, FTIR and FESEM analyses. The influences of several variables such as SiO2 content, APTES content, pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, concentration and temperature were evaluated. The kinetic data were analyzed by pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and double-exponential kinetic models. The Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models were used to describe the equilibrium data. The maximum Langmuir adsorption capacity of Cd(II), Pb(II) and Ni(II) metal ions was found to be 157.4, 158.3 and 63.0 mg/g at 45 degrees C, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that adsorptions were endothermic and spontaneous. The results showed that the adsorbent can be used repeatedly without any remarkable change in adsorption capacities. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.