An adsorbent of magnetic polymer multi-wall carbon nanotube (MPMWCNT) nanocomposite was synthesized, which was composed of multi-wall carbon nanotubes, poly(1-glycidyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride) (ionic liquid-based polyether) and ferroferric oxide. The properties of MPMWCNT were investigated by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The adsorptive capacity of MPMWCNT was examined using anionic azo dyes of orange II, sunset yellow FCF and amaranth as adsorbates. The effect of pH value was investigated and the adsorption kinetics and isotherms were also studied. It was found that a low pH value favors the adsorption of those anionic azo dyes and the adsorption kinetics and isotherms were well fitted by a pseudo second-order model and Langmuir model, respectively. The introduction of ionic liquid-based polyether and ferroferric oxide moieties into the multi-wall carbon nanotubes brings significant improvements in the adsorption and separation performance. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.