A novel chelating resin containing many amino and carboxyl functional groups, PS-EDTA resin, was prepared from chloromethylated polystyrene bead by reacting with ethylenediamine and chloroacetate in aqueous phase in sequence. The structure of PS-EDTA resin was characterized by means of infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, surface area analysis and thermogravimetry. Adsorption behavior of the resin for Ag (I) ions in aqueous solutions was investigated by batch experiments. The results indicated that the adsorption removal of PS-EDTA resin for Ag (I) could achieve more than 99.9% at pH values of 5.0 with an initial Ag (I) concentration of 60.0 mg/L within 2 h. The maximum removal capacity of PS-EDTA toward Ag (I) was found to be almost 3314.97 mg/g at 25 degrees C. In addition, adsorption kinetic data were described by pseudo-second-order equation and the equilibrium data fitted very well with the Freundlich model. It was found that the PS-EDTA resin had excellent adsorption properties for Ag (I), so it should be a promising composite adsorbent with application in the recovery of Ag (1) ions from aqueous environment. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.