Abstract: Using biodegradable chitosan as material, the cross-linked chitosan beads were prepared by crosslinking chitosan with both sodium polyphosphate and epichlorohydrin via ionic and covalent bonds. The adsorption and desorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) onto cross-linked chitosan were investigated. The effects of initial concentration of BSA, cross-linked chitosan dosage, pH on the adsorption were evaluated, and the adsorption conditions were optimized by orthogonal experiment. The analysis of kinetics for adsorption was preformed. The results showed that the maximum adsorption rate for BSA was 88. 7% under the optimum conditions. The adsorption phenomena appeared to follow the pseudo-second order kinetics equation and Freundlich adsorption equation. The cross-linked chitosan carrying BSA could be reused after elution easily by NaCl.