Herein we report a novel method to exfoliate graphite to thin structure by depositing nanoparticles. Graphite was oxidated to graphite oxide (GO), and then nano Fe3O4@mZrO(2) was loaded and inserted between GO sheets as GO being reduced to reduced graphite oxide (rGO) in one step by hydro-thermal co-precipitation. As-obtained nanocomposite Fe3O4@mZrO(2)/rGO was characterized by SEM, TEM, AFM, FTIR, BET, XRD, VSM and EDX techniques. The microscopic studies show the thickness of Fe3O4@mZrO(2)/rGO sheet is significant thinner than that of rGO sheet. Evidences indicate the presence of nano Fe3O4@mZrO(2) effectively preserves rGO sheets from stacking and forming thick structure. Amaranth was used as a model contamination to investigate the adsorption ability of the nanocomposite due to its hazardness. It shows effective adsorption ability. Based on all the evidence shown in studies, a possible mechanism for the adsorbent composing and its amaranth adsorption was postulated. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.