Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) loading with effective funetional groups can reduce and adsorb Pb2+. MCC was used as raw material to prepare carboxyl-amino modified microcrystalline cellulose (CA-MCC) by the method of oxidative grafting. CA-MCC was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), and its removal effect on Pb2+ was studied. The results showed that the removal effect of CA-MCC was positively correlated with the concentration of Pb2+. When the concentration of Pb2+ was 100 mg/L, the removal rate was the highest, reaching 47.5%. When the initial concentration of Pb2+ was 20 mg/L, the highest removal rate was 53.56% when the ratio of adsorbent mass to wastewater volume (m/V) is 1 ∶ 3 000, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 37.7 mg/g when the above ratio was 1 ∶ 4 000. Compared with micronsized cellulose particles, nano cellulose with small particle size and large specific surface area had broad application space.