The removal of chromium(III) (Cr(III)) from industrial wastewater by various low-cost methods has been widely investigated. In this paper, a type of bio-adsorbent was prepared using rice straw modified by fermentation and simple chemical treatment. The aim is to detect the adsorption mechanism and characteristics on Cr(III) ions. The analysis shows that the bio-adsorbent possesses four modified characteristics for Cr(III) adsorption. The first one is the acquired physical adsorption involving concave and convex structures. The second one is the effects of the hydrogen bonding surface hydroxyl groups and the metal chromium ion with complexation. The third one is mainly caused by hydrophilic active groups that possess carboxyl and hydroxyl groups during microbial degradation to combine with ions. The final one is the bio-adsorbent had high adsorption for low concentration of Cr(III) ions. The highest removal of around 97.45% was obtained at pH 5.0, bio-adsorption dosage of 0.5 g L(-1), and initial Cr(III) concentration of 20 mg L(-1). The adsorption process followed the pseudo second-order model (R(2) > 0.99), while the isotherms were fitted to the Freundlich equation (68.1926 mg g(-1)), mainly by chemical adsorption. This study demonstrates the potential of using this biosorbent to remove Cr(III) from both synthetic and industrial wastewater.