Porous soft magnetic material is a member of soft magnetic material family having large surface area. This kind of material has vast potential in the surface-related applications. In this paper, a kind maghemite (gamma-Fe(2)O(3)) with large surface area, 82.7 m(2)/g. specifically, was obtained by the solvothermal method and subsequent calcining process. As shown in the test results, the maghemite microsphere has no magnetic memory in the magnetic field since the residual magnetization is 0.7 emu/g. In the waste water treatment process, Rhodamine B, a model organic pollutant in the water, was removed through the adsorption and desorption cycles by the maghemite microspheres. The maghemite microspheres in the water can be recycled easily by a magnetic separation procedure and regenerated in ethanol at room temperature. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.