The effectiveness of magnetic CuFe 2 O 4 powder as adsorbent/catalyst for the removal of azo-dye Acid Red B (ARB) from water by adsorption and subsequent catalytic combustion was studied. Magnetic CuFe 2 O 4 powder showed excellent adsorption properties towards ARB at pH < 5.5, and it could be conveniently recovered by magnetic separation technology after adsorption. The combustion decomposition of ARB in the presence or absence of CuFe 2 O 4 was studied by a system for thermal degradation studies (STDS) and in situ FTIR. The results indicated that different reactive pathways existed for the combustion under different conditions. In the presence of CuFe 2 O 4 , the temperature needed for oxidation reaction and for combustion was 150 and 300 • C, respectively. The reaction products were observed to be SO 2 , CO 2 , H 2 O, and nitrate. There was neither volatile organic compound (VOCs) emitted to atmosphere during reaction nor organic matter deposited on the surface of CuFe 2 O 4 after the combustion. Comparatively, in the absence of CuFe 2 O 4 , the oxidation and combustion of ARB required a higher temperature (300 and 500 • C, respectively) and produced a lot of toxic organic compounds emitted to atmosphere besides SO 2 , CO 2 and H 2 O during the reaction. In addition, sulfate was generated instead of nitrate. The experiments of adsorption-combustion cycles demonstrated that there was no evident change in adsorption properties and catalytic activity of magnetic CuFe 2 O 4 powder after seven cycles.