AbstractHydrogels were prepared by using egg white albumen (EWA) before and after chemical modification of its lysyl residues with ethylenediamine tetraacetic dianhydride (EDTAD) to incorporate carboxylic groups. This resulted in an increase in swelling ratio of the EWA hydrogels. The swelling ratio increased dramatically in deionized water substantially, more than in pH 7.4 buffer solution. The effects of medium pH, temperature and swelling were investigated, along with crosslinking of the gel network by glutaraldehyde (GLA), as well as acetone treatment. The gels denatured by acetone showed an insignificant increase in swelling ratio for the gels crosslinked with GLA during gel preparation, which is in contrast to the gels crosslinked subsequent to gel formation. The swelling behavior was positively affected by temperature and time. However, an insignificant effect of pH was observed due to electrostatic screening of the carboxylic groups by sodium ions in the buffer solution. Availability of various functional groups on EWA has resulted in adsorption of metals (Cu+2 ions) and non‐metals (PO4−2 anions). Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry