A novel bifunctional CuO-Fe(3)o(4) magnetic material was synthesized and characterized, to remove As(III) through photo-oxidation and adsorption. Photo-oxidation of As(III), adsorption characteristics of Cu0-Fe(3)o(4) nanoparticles, the effect of solution pH, ionic strength and coexisting ions on As(III) removal were investigated. Under light irradiation, As(III) could be completely oxidized to less toxic As(V) by CuO-Fe(3)o(4) nanoparticles within 60 min in the photo-oxidation reaction. Simultaneously, As(V) could be adsorbed onto the surface of nanoparticles with high efficiency. The adsorption of As(V) was well fitted by the pseudo-second-order model and the Freundlich isotherm model, respectively, and the maximum adsorption capacities of the nanoparticles was 118.11 mg/g at pH 7.0. As(III) could be effectively removed by CuO-Fe(3)o(4) nanoparticles at initial pH range from 4 to 8. Among all the common coexisting ions investigated, except for chloride and sulfate, carbonate, silicate and phosphate decreased the As(III) removal by competing with arsenic species for adsorption sites. The synthesized magnetic CuO-Fe(3)o(4) combined the photocatalytic property of CuO and the high adsorption capacity of both CuO and Fe(3)o(4), which make it have significant potential applications in the arsenic wastewater treatment. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.