A chitin hydrogel with concentration 3 wt% (CG3) was successfully prepared from chitin solution dissolved in 8 wt% NaOH/4wt% urea aqueous system at low temperature by crosslinking with 5 wt% epichlorohydrin. The experimental results revealed that CG3 exhibited high efficiency to remove dye (malachite green) from aqueous solution, as a result of their microporous structure, large surface area and affinity on the dye. The equilibrium process was described well by the Langmuir isotherm model, showing a monolayer adsorption. From kinetic experiments, the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, indicating that the overall rate of dye uptake could be controlled by external mass transfer at the beginning of adsorption, while intraparticle diffusion controlled the overall rate of adsorption at a later stage. The activation energy calculated from Arrhenius equation and the result of SEM and FTIR indicated that the adsorption of malachite green on the CG3 was physical process. This work provided an attractive adsorbent for removing of the hazardous materials from wastewater. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.