Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber mats were prepared by electrospinning and they were further modified to contain amidino diethylenediamine chelating groups on their surface via heterogenous reaction with diethylenetriamine (DETA). The obtained aminated PAN (APAN) nanofiber mats were evaluated for their chelating property with four types of metal ions, namely Cu(II), Ag(I), Fe(II) and Pb(II) ions. The amounts of the metal ions adsorbed onto the APAN nanofiber mats were influenced by the initial pH and the initial concentration of the metal ion solutions. Increasing the contact time also resulted in a monotonous increase in the adsorbed amounts of the metal ions which finally reached equilibria at about 10 h for Cu(II) ions and about 5 h for Ag(I), Fe(II) and Pb(II) ions. The maximal adsorption capacities of the metal ions on the APAN nanofiber mats as calculated from the Langmuir model were 150.6, 155.5, 116.5 and 60.6 mg.g(-1) respectively. Lastly the spent APAN nanofiber mats could be facilely regenerated with a hydrochloric acid (HCl) aqueous solution.