An interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel was prepared by using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyacrylamide (PAM) as raw materials and glutaraldehyde as cross-linking agent. The structure of the IPN was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The effect of PAM content, the amount of cross-linking agent, adsorption time, pH and adsorption temperature on swelling degree and Cu²⁺ adsorption properties of IPN hydrogel were studied. The Cu²⁺ adsorption kinetic characteristics of the IPN and the adsorption mechanism were investigated. The results showed that the 30wt.% PAM IPN had better Cu²⁺ adsorption property than PVA hydrogel when the pH was 5. The equilibrium adsorption amount of Cu²⁺ on PVA-PAM IPN hydrogel increased with the increase of temperature. The adsorption behavior was consistent with the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic equations, and the mechanism diffusion was controlled by particle and film diffusions.