The adsorption properties, including the adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and adsorption selectivity, of newly formed chelating resins that contained a heterocyclic functional group and a hydrophilic spacer arm of poly(ethylene glycol) [polystyrene-diethylene glycol-2-amino-5-methylthio-1,3,4-thiadizole (PS-DEG-AMTZ) and polystyrene-triethylene glycol-2-amino-5methylthio-1,3,4-thiadizole (PS-TEG-AMTZ)] were studied in detail. The results show that the adsorption kinetics of PS-DEG-AMTZ and PS-TEG-AMTZ for Hg 2þ and Ag þ could be described by a pseudo-second-order rate equation. The introduction of a spacer arm between the polymeric matrix and functional group was beneficial for increasing the adsorption rates. The apparent activation energies of the resins for Hg 2þ and Ag þ were within 20.89-32.32 kJ/mol. The Langmuir model could describe the isothermal process of Hg 2þ and Ag þ . The competitive adsorption of the resins for Hg 2þ and Ag þ in binary mixture systems was also investigated. The results show that Hg 2þ and Ag þ were adsorbed before the other metal ions, such as Cu 2þ , Zn 2þ , Fe 3þ , Cd 2þ , and Pb 2þ , under competitive conditions. Five adsorption-desorption cycles were conducted for the reuse of the resins. The results indicate that these two resins were suitable for reuse without considerable changes in the adsorption capacity.