Iodate doped chitosan (I-CS) composite was synthesized, characterized and used as an adsorbent for adsorption of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. The I-CS sorbent was extensively characterized by nitrogen adsorption/desorption to determine the BET surface areas and BJH pore size distribution, elemental analysis, TGA/DSC, FTIR, XRD and SEM. The influences of various chemical parameters viz. pH, contact time, dose of adsorbent and initial metal ion concentration on adsorption performance of Pb(II) ions were analyzed. Equilibrium adsorption isotherm and kinetics of adsorption has also been studied. The BET results exhibited decreased porosity and specific surface area of I-CS composite due to the blockage of internal porous cavities by incorporated iodate. The maximum removal of the Pb(II) ions using I-CS adsorbent was observed at optimum pH 6. The dose of adsorbent on the percentage removal of Pb(II) ions also has a prominent effect and maximum Pb(II) ions mitigation found at 0.5 g L⁻¹ adsorbent dose with 99% efficiency achieved in 4 h. The adsorption of Pb(II) ions shown applicability of the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm suggests the existence of both heterogeneous surface and monolayer coverage of adsorbed molecules. The adsorption process follows pseudo-second-order kinetics. This doped composite adsorbent proved to be an effective for adsorption of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution.