A novel magnetic adsorbent, magnetic EDTA/chitosan nanobeads was synthesized. The adsorption mechanisms of magnetic EDTA/chitosan nanobeads for removal of Cu (II) ions from aqueous solution were investigated in this paper. The interaction mechanisms of Cu2+ adsorption onto magnetic EDTA/chitosan nanobeads and active sites were interpreted by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. Uniting the analysis results of FTIR and XPS, the functional groups of participating in chelating were confirmed, and the results indicated that Cu2+ adsorption was mainly through interactions with electron donating atom N and O. This adsorption property was similar to N·O-type chelating agent and the adsorption mechanism was put forward. This work was very significant to control adsorption influence factor and improve adsorption capacity of magnetic EDTA-chitosan nanobeads, and then succeed to apply to magnetic adsorption fields.