This article discusses the preparation of the water-insoluble adsorbent sulfhydryl chitin (s-chitin), by treatment of the chitin with sulfhydryl acetic acid in the presence of sulfuric acid as a catalyst. Its structure was confirmed by elemental analysis, FTIR spectra analysis and near-IR spectra analysis. We also investigated the adsorption properties of sulfhydryl chitin for Cu-II, Cd-II, Pb-II, Cr-III, and Ni-II. Based on the research results of adsorption capacity, the effect of pH value on adsorption, adsorption kinetics experiments, and selective adsorption experiments were observed. It has been shown that the s-chitin has much better adsorption for Pb-II, CuII, and CdII than chitin itself. The adsorption capacities of s-chitin for Pb-II, Cu-II, and Cd-II were 108.3, 94.7, and 57.1 mg/g, respectively. It also had good adsorption properties for heavy metal ions. The adsorption capacities were also affected by the acidity of medium. The adsorbed Cu-II, Cd-II, and Pb-II could be eluted by diluted chlorhydric acid.