•A novel Ti-MOF adsorbent was synthesized by solvothermal method.•Ti-MOF-SH has excellent selectivity and reproducibility for Hg(Ⅱ) and Pb(Ⅱ).•The adsorption mechanism of Ti-MOF-SH is chelation and electrostatic interaction.•The adsorption effect of Ti-MOF-SH on Hg(Ⅱ) is better than that of Pb(Ⅱ).•The adsorption process of Hg(Ⅱ) and Pb(Ⅱ) accords with Langmuir adsorption isothermal model. Herein, Ti-MOF-SH was sucessfully synthesized by a simple one-step method. The kinetics, capacities, selectivities, repeatabilities and mechanisms of Hg2+ and Pb2+ absorption and removal by Ti-MOF-SH have been investiged. Batch experiments show that the maximum adsorption capacity of Ti-MOF-SH for Hg2+ and Pb2+ is 943 and 341 mg/g (298 K), respectively, under the optimum pH (5.0). The adsorption process is endothermic, which conforms to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model, and mainly depends on electrostatic interaction and the chelation of functional groups containing S and O with metal ions. In addition, Ti-MOF-SH has excellent selectivity and repeatability for Hg2+ and Pb2+, which is expected to be widely used in the future. The above conclusion indicate that Ti-MOF-SH has excellent comprehensive performance for Hg/Pb removal and is expected to be widely applied in industrial engineering.