In this work, a selective Pd(II) ions chelating resin based on 2-aminobenzaldehyde modified chitosan Schiffs base (Pd-CAZ) was synthesized through ion-imprinting technique. All the performed chemical and morphological changes during the modification and Pd(II) ion-imprinting process were investigated using instrumental techniques including FTIR, H-1 NMR, XRD and SEM. In addition, the mechanism of Pd (II) binding to the synthesized polymeric active sites was elucidated using both XPS and FTIR spectra, and the results indicated that Pd(II) ions coordinated in square planar geometry. Also, the selective extraction experiments with respect to Pd-CAZ and control non-imprinted NI-CAZ resins were performed to obtain the fundamental thermodynamic, kinetic and isotherm parameters. In all cases the adsorption was endothermic, spontaneous, fit well with pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model with maximum adsorption capacities of 275 +/- 0.4 and 114 +/- 0.2 mg/g for Pd-CAZ and NI-CAZ, respectively. Moreover, the regeneration and recovery experiments indicated that the resin maintain about 96% of its original activity after the fifth adsorption-desorption cycle, revealing the high economic value. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.