In this work, the polysaccharide carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was first activated via periodate oxidation then modified by insertion of photo-active cinnamic acid hydrazide moieties to finally produce the photo-crosslinkable CMC-CM with various extents of functionalizations. The chemical structures of the manufactured polymeric materials were entirely investigated utilizing FTIR, H-1,C-13 NMR, and UV-vis spectra. Upon irradiation in UV light, the progress and kinetics of the cross-linking were detected using UV-vis spectra. Moreover, the crystallinity changes before and after chemical modification and subsequent DV irradiation were examined by XRD spectra. Also, the obtained hydrogels with various cross-linking densities were freeze dried to visualize the morphological changes using SEM. In addition, the rheological experiments indicated the improvement of the hydrogel mechanical properties by increasing both UV irradiation time and degree of cinnamate functionalization. The obtained hydrogel exhibited good swelling, gelation and biodegradation properties, which indicate a promising potential in different biomedical applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.