In the process of chilled meat packaged in trays and storaged at 4℃, the exudate at the bottom will accelerates the growth of microorganisms, affect the color of meat, speed up the spoilage of chilled meat and shorten its shelf life. In this study, deacetylated crab shell powder (dCSP) were used as natural crosslinking agents to obtain bi-crosslinked sodium alginate antibacterial hydrogel water absorbent pads with high strength and high water absorption, which contained different volume fraction (0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, 1.2%) of cinnamyl aldehyde. Those water absorbent pads can be used to absorb exudation from the chilled meat during storage. The results indicated that the dCSP in the system could realize both Ca²⁺ crosslinking and polyelectrolytes interactions with sodium alginate. The addition of cinnamyl aldehyde could significantly enhance the performance of water absorbent pads. The hydrogel water absorbent pads showed denser structure, better swelling property, mechanical strength and antibacterial activity, when the cinnamyl aldehyde volume fraction was 0.6% or 0.9%. The pH value, total volatile basic nitrogen value, total viable count and volatile odor indicators of chilled meat with antibacterial hydrogel water absorbent pads were lower than the group without water absorbent pad and the group with wood fiber absorbent paper (P<0.05). The juice loss rate of chilled meat with antibacterial hydrogel water absorbent pads was low and the juice storage rate was 100%. The bi-crosslinked network formed between sodium alginate and crab shell powders which could enhance the mechanical properties and gel strength of water absorbent pads. In addition, the use of crab shell powders also could improve the comprehensive utilization rate of waste. The swelling ratio of hydrogel water absorbent pads were higher than that of commercial absorbent pads. The hydrogel water absorbent pads could not only effectively absorb the meat exudate, but also could trap those liquids inside the three-dimensional network. The hydrogel water absorbent pads have certain advantages of inhibiting the growth of microorganisms and extending the shelf life of chilled meat.