The goal of this research was to develop and characterize new formulations based on chitosan and its derivatives for industrial and medical applications. First, chitosan beads, cross-linked or not, were evaluated for removing heavy metals/azo-dyes from waste waters. Adsorption was characterized as a function of pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time and initial metal ion/azo-dyes concentration. Equilibrium data were fitted to different adsorption models and were best modeled by a pseudo-second order kinetic and a Langmuir isotherm (monolayer distribution). The beads can efficiently remove 99% of heavy metals/azo-dyes from aqueous solutions. Secondly, chitosan was functionalized with adhesion-promoting RGDC peptide to accelerate wound healing. In this view, three different formulations for topical application have been characterized and evaluated. Both derivatized chitosan and formulations showed no toxicity, induced adhesion and proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts. RGDC-functionalized chitosan provides an optimal environment for fibroblast adhesion and proliferation, supporting its potential to accelerate wound healing.