Surface chemical properties and adsorption of Cu (II) on nanoscale magnetite in aqueous solutions

► In-depth characterization for magnetite studied. ► The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 0.1354 m mol/g for adsorbent at 25 °C. ► Adsorption reached the equilibrium before 60 min for this adsorbent. ► The adsorption process was found to be pH dependent. Also, the adsorption behavior was a function of the concentration and type of supporting electrolyte. ► The adsorption data were fitted by several kinetic and isothermal equations.