Porous spinel ferrites Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 (0 x <= 0.8) are synthesized by a simple sol-gel method with egg white. All samples exhibit porous morphologies and large BET surface area (S-BET). The substitution of Zn2+ affects the magnetic properties of ferrites and the adsorption properties of methylene blue (MB) on ferrites, obviously. The saturation magnetization (Ms) of Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 increases before x = 0.4, and decreases with further increase of Zn2+ substitution. This can be ascribed to the changes of the cationic distribution and the variation of spin arrangement in A-site and B-site of spinel structure. All samples show high adsorption capacity and the removal efficiencies of MB reach up to >90% within 3 h. The Zn2+ substitution accelerates the adsorption rate and capacity of MB on Mn1-xZnxFe2O4. The quickest adsorption occurred at x = 0.2 and the largest adsorption capacity occurred at x = 0.8. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Inc.