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Polyurethane (PU) nanofibers possess large specific surface area and excellent mechanical properties which have been used as the matrix for many applications. Phytic acid is the biocompatible and environment-friendly organic acid with excellent chelating ability of heavy metal ions due to it contains 6 phosphate groups. In this study, the PU/phytic acid nanofibrous membrane has been successfully produced by electrospinning which was used for Pb2+ removal. Though phytic acid would improve the hydrophilicity and reduce the mechanical properties to a certain extent, the phytic acid-modified PU nanofibrous membrane still possessed excellent mechanical properties. The PU/phytic acid nanofibrous membrane achieved the highest adsorption capacity (136.52 mg/g) of Pb2+ under the condition of the pH of Pb2+ solution was 6 and the adsorption temperature and time were 20°C and 10 h which was over 6 times higher the unmodified one's (21.06 mg/g). These results demonstrated that the electrospun PU/phytic acid nanofibrous membrane could obtain high adsorption capacity of Pb2+ and it would achieve the potential application in the fields of the removal of heavy metal ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]