<p>Due to the pros and cons of synthetic organic dyes, when used to contaminate the water resources they can have negative affect on the environmental and health and therefore it is necessary to create efficient and effective adsorbent materials for the treatment of wastewater. For the purpose of this study, we synthesized a magnetic chitosan poly (acrylamide-co-maleic acid) composite hydrogel (Mag@CS-AMMA). In order to accomplish this, free radical polymerization was used with acrylamide (AAm) and maleic acid (MA) functioning as monomers, N, N’-methylene bis AAm used for crosslinking, and potassium persulfate serving as the initiator of the reaction. In addition to the polymeric network and the use of magnetic properties of the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, the completed hydrogel also has good adsorption efficiencies and allows easy separation of the adsorbent. The hydrogel was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM) analyses. The batch adsorption studies showed excellent removal efficiencies (92%) for cationic Rhodamine B (RhB) and anionic Fast Green (FG) under optimized conditions, with equilibrium attained in 45–50&#xa0;min and pH of 8 for RhB and pH 4 for FG. The adsorption kinetics were best demonstrated using the pseudo-second order kinetics and were best explained by the Langmuir isotherm model which is indicative of monolayer chemisorption. The total dye uptake was found to be 943.4 mg g^-1 for RhB and 877.19 mg g^-1 for FG with the increase being attributed to dye and functional group interactions such as hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. In addition, the magnetic composite hydrogel’s excellent regeneration and reusability demonstrate its effectiveness as a green and sustainable adsorbent in wastewater treatment applications.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>