Chitosan is very efficient at removing cadmium through chelation mechanisms involving amine groups of chitosan. The optimum pH is 7, and in acidic solutions, the protonation of the biopolymer reduces the binding of cadmium on amine groups due to electrostatic repulsion. The influence of particle size, temperature and agitation speed on metal sorption is investigated using chitosan flakes and chitosan gel beads. Temperature and agitation speed hardly influence equilibria and kinetics in the selected experimental conditions corresponding to a large sorbent dosage. The major effect on sorption performance is due to sorbent particle size, especially for chitosan flakes. Though intraparticle diffusion represents an important step in the kinetic control, the contribution of external diffusion may not be neglected.