Medically inspired hydrogels were successfully synthesized by mimicking the structure of current chelating agents. Thioglycolic acid modified polyallylamine (PAAm/TGA) and Dihydroxybenzoic acid-Thioglycolic modified polyallylamine (PAAm/TGA/DHBA) were synthesized following a simple conjugation process. These hydrogels exhibit high affinity, low cost, and high re-usability efficiency. The maximum sorption capacities were significantly higher than those sorbents currently in use. The kinetic study of the hydrogels demonstrated that almost 50% removal occurred in less than 5 min. Additionally, the hydrogel exhibited excellent re-usability, maintaining their efficiency in 5 consecutive cycles. These results suggest that these hydrogels can be considered to be potential agents to be used in waste/produced water treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.