Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG 1500) is functionalized using itaconic acid by melt esterification reaction to obtain a bi-functional co-monomer crosslinker, Poly(ethylene glycol) di-itaconate. The resulting product has been copolymerized with acrylamide in presence of methylene bis-acrylamide as crosslinker (in varying proportions) so as to prepare hydrogel which is mostly recommended for dye removal from textile effluents. FTIR-ATR, Solid state 13-C NMR and WAXS techniques are used to ensure grafting of the PEG diitaconate on the polyacrylamide backbone. The intermediate products are also characterized using FTIR and H-1 NMR spectroscopy. This study reveals that a significant improvement in gel characteristics particularly in respect of swelling properties may be achieved with the hydrogel having only ester type crosslinks. However this is attained at the cost of yield stress. The ester based gel shows better storage modulus, dye sorption ability and the anti-fungal properties in relation to semi-IPN type gels. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.