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Activated carbon prepared from lemon (Citrus limon) wood (ACL) and ACL/Fe3O4 magnetic nanocomposite were effectively used to remove the cationic dye of crystal violet (CV) from aqueous solutions. The results showed that Fe3O4 nanoparticles were successfully placed in the structure of ACL and the produced nanocomposites showed superior magnetic properties. It was found that pH was the most effective parameter in the CV dye adsorption and pH of 9 gave the maximum adsorption efficiency of 93.5% and 98.3% for ACL and ACL/Fe3O4, respectively. The Dubinin–Radushkevich (D-R) and Langmuir models were selected to investigate the CV dye adsorption equilibrium behavior for ACL and ACL/Fe3O4, respectively. A maximum adsorption capacity of 23.6 and 35.3 mg/g was obtained for ACL and ACL/Fe3O4, respectively indicating superior adsorption capacity of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The kinetic data of the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second order (PSO) kinetic model, indicating that chemical mechanisms may have an effect on the CV dye adsorption. The negative values obtained for Gibb’s free energy parameter (−20 < ΔG < 0 kJ/mol) showed that the adsorption process using both types of the adsorbents was physical. Moreover, the CV dye adsorption enthalpy (ΔH) values of −45.4 for ACL and −56.9 kJ/mol for ACL/Fe3O4 were obtained indicating that the adsorption process was exothermic. Overall, ACL and ACL/Fe3O4 magnetic nanocomposites provide a novel and effective type of adsorbents to remove CV dye from the aqueous solutions.

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