A novel chelating resin obtained via growth of PAMAM dendron on surface of styrene divinyl benzene resin beads, followed by diglycolamic acid functionalization of the dendrimer terminal. Batch experiments were conducted to study the effects of pH, nitric acid concentration, amount of adsorbent, shaking time, initial metal ion concentration and temperature on U(VI) and Th(IV) adsorption efficiency. Diglycolamic acid terminated PAMAM dendrimer functionalized styrene divinylbenzene chelating resin (DGA-PAMAM-SDB) is found to be an efficient candidate for the removal of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions from aqueous (pH > 4) and nitric acid media (> 3 M). The sorption equilibrium could be reached within 60 min, and the experimental data fits with pseudo-second-order model. Langmuir sorption isotherm model correlates well with sorption equilibrium data. The maximum U(VI) and Th(IV) sorption capacity onto DGA-PAMAMG5-SDB was estimated to be about 682 and 544.2 mg g−1respectively at 25 °C. The interaction of actinides and chelating resin is reversible and hence, the resin can be regenerated and reused. DFT calculation on the interaction of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions with chelating resin validates the experimental findings. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.