Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) coated with magnetic ZnLa0.02Fe1.98O4 clusters were facilely synthesized via one-pot solvothermal method. The content of the MWCNTs contained in the composite was determined to be about 34.1 wt%. The pore size, surface area, and pore volume for the ZnLa0.02Fe1.98O4/MWCNTs were obtained as about 2.5 nm, 59 m(2)/g, and 0.27 cm(3)/g, respectively. The saturation magnetization (M-s) of the composite reached to 61 emug/g, which is convenient to separate from an aqueous solution by an external magnetic field. The composite can be used as an adsorbent to adsorb methyl orange (MO) from the solution. The maximum adsorption capacity is about 81 mg/g, which is higher than those reported. And it takes shorter time to the adsorption equilibrium (30-40 min) than those reported. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.