A novel poly(Hydroxyethyl methacrylate/Maleamic acid) (p(HEA/MALA)) hydrogel was synthesized by 60 Co-γ induced copolymerization, and used to remove Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ and Cu 2+ from aqueous solutions. The prepared copolymer was characterized by using the FTIR spectra, TGA analysis and XPS analysis. Batch equilibrium experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of pH, time, initial metal ion concentration and competition properties of the solutions on the adsorption of Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ and Cu 2+ ions. FTIR spectra and TGA analysis showed that the p(HEA/MALA) hydrogel was indeed a copolymer of HEA and Maleamic acid. Adsorption kinetics of Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ and Cu 2+ ions on p(HEA/MALA) followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the adsorption rates followed the order Cd 2+ >Pb 2+ >Ni 2+ >Cu 2+ . The isotherm experimental data fitted better to the Langmuir model (R 2 >0.99) than the Freundlich model, demonstrating that the Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ , Cu 2+ on p(HEA/MALA) was removed through Langmuir monolayer adsorption. The XPS spectra of p(HEA/MALA) with and without chelate metal ions indicated that Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ and Cu 2+ were adsorbed via the chelation of NH 2 groups and the ion-exchange of COOH groups. According to the competitive adsorption results, the priority order in multi-component adsorption was Pb 2+ >Cu 2+ >Ni 2+ >Cd 2+ . These findings suggest that the hydrogel is a promising adsorbent to separate and recover the heavy metal ions from contaminated water.