In this study, magnetic Fe3O4-MnO2 nanoplates were successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process in order to remove bivalent heavy metals from water. The Fe3O4 part facilitated the reclamation of the adsorbent. Meanwhile, the modification by amorphous MnO2 could significantly enhance the specific surface area of Fe3O4-MnO2 and decrease the point of zero charge, thus ensured the good adsorption capacity for metal cations. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of the five metal ions on Fe3O4-MnO2 and the pH effect on removal efficiency were detailedly investigated. Sips isotherm was the most suitable model to describe Pb2+, Cu2+, Cd2+ and Zn2+ adsorption on Fe3O4-MnO2, while Temkin, Redlich-Peterson and Langmuir models showed a higher fitting degree for Ni2+. The adsorption capacities of Pb2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Ni2+ on Fe3O4-MnO2 were 208.17, 111.90, 169.90 100.24 and 55.63 mg/g, respectively. Kinetic data were better fitted to pseudo-second-order model (R-2 > 0.99), indicating a dominant role of chemisorption. Further analysis of infrared spectra demonstrated that the adsorption process was achieved mainly by ion exchange and complexation. The adsorption rates and preference ranking of metal ions on Fe3O4-MnO2 were in the same order: Pb2+ > Cu2+ > Cd2+ > Zn2+ > Ni2+. Moreover, the adsorbent showed good recyclability and excellent ability of neutralizing the solutions by surface protonation and deprotonation. Overall, the reported results here have significant implications for removing metal cations from water in practice. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.