Rising worldwide concern about the quantity and quality of water available to living beings calls for efficient technologies of water treatment. Nanomaterials are promising adsorbents to remove contamination from aqueous solution, and magnetic nanomaterials based on iron have attracted attention because magnetic materials are easy to separate. Here, we review iron magnetic nanomaterials applied for water and wastewater treatment, with focus on toxic elements, pharmaceuticals and pesticides. Major advances are: coprecipitation is the most used method for synthesis of iron magnetic nanoparticles, followed by solvothermal and hydrothermal methods. Magnetite is the most common magnetic nanoparticles applied as magnetic adsorbent. In general, magnetic nanocomposites are superparamagnetic, and the highest magnetization is sought for core–shell structures, reaching 65 emu/g. Most reports focus on removal of toxic metals. Adsorption is explained by the Langmuir isothermal model, kinetic patterns being correlated with pseudo-second-order equations. Overall, iron-based magnetic nanocomposites display promising performances for pollutant removal, yet few investigations report the toxic impacts of magnetic nanoparticles on the environment.

全世界越来越关注对人类可用水的数量和质量的要求，要求有高效的水处理技术。纳米材料是有望去除水溶液中污染物的吸附剂，基于铁的磁性纳米材料由于磁性材料易于分离而备受关注。在这里，我们将对用于水和废水处理的铁磁性纳米材料进行综述，重点是有毒元素，药物和农药。主要的进展是：共沉淀是合成铁磁性纳米粒子最常用的方法，其次是溶剂热法和水热法。磁铁矿是用作磁性吸附剂的最常见的磁性纳米颗粒。通常，磁性纳米复合材料是超顺磁性的，芯壳结构的磁化强度最高，达到65 emu / g。大多数报告都集中在去除有毒金属上。吸附由Langmuir等温模型解释，动力学模式与伪二级方程相关。总体而言，铁基磁性纳米复合材料在去除污染物方面显示出令人鼓舞的性能，但很少有研究报道磁性纳米颗粒对环境的毒性影响。