In this study, using graphene oxide supported Fe3O4 nanoparticles as carriers, ethylenediamine and methyl acrylate as functional monomer, different generations of polyamidoamine dendrimers functionalized magnetic graphene oxide (MGO-PAMAM), up to generation 4.0, were successfully synthesized via step by step growth chemical grafting approach and magnetic separation technology. In the process of synthesizing dendrimers, the generation of dendrimers was increased with the increasing of reaction cycles. In other words, the dendrimers generation is determined from the number of branch iterations. The obtained MGO-PAMAM were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm and Zeta potential analysis. The adsorption properties of the synthesized products for Hg(II) in aqueous solution were investigated by batch experiments. The results showed that the MGO-PAMAM with generation 3.0 of dendrimers (MGO-PAMAM-G3.0) has the maximum adsorption capacity of 113.71 mg.g(-1). The adsorption process of MGO-PAMAM-G3.0 for Hg(II) was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetics model and the Langmuir isotherm model. The Hg(II) adsorbed on the surface of MGO-PAMAM-G3.0 was reduced to Hg(I) in the adsorption process. In addition, the MGO-PAMAM possesse good magnetic separation performance. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.