The present research combines biosorption and photocatalysis in a functional TiO(2)-immobilized chitosan adsorbent (CTA). CTA can degrade organic pollutants and adsorb metal ions simultaneously. Target pollutants were dyes of cationic (rhodamine B, Rh.B) and anionic (methyl orange, MO) nature, with Ni(2+) and Cu(2+) selected as heavy metals. The presence of Ni(2+) or Cu(2+) improved the degradation ability of CTA for MO, but inhibited the degradation of Rh.B, with Cu(2+) exhibiting stronger effects than Ni(2+). There was no significant difference in CTA activity when the metal ions were pre-adsorbed or when they coexisted in the solution with the organic dyes. Protons in the reaction system affected the degradation performance in a similar way for Ni(2+) and Cu(2+) leading to a different effect on the degradation for MO and Rh.B. An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the binding energies of the metal ions on the surface in the presence of the cationic or anionic dyes explained the different behaviors. Since anionic and cationic dyes possess chromogenic groups of different charges, they adversely affect the production of OH• radicals when coexisting with Cu(2+) or Ni(2+).