In this study, a series of vanadium doped magnetites (Fe3-xVxO4, 0 <= x <= 0 34) was synthesized by a precipitation-oxidation route and show good adsorption and catalytic activities Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Mossbauer spectra analysis of Fe3-xVxO4 confirm the formation of magnetite, while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Mossbauer spectroscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectra indicate vanadium preferentially occupies the octahedral site The valency of vanadium in magnetite is mainly +3, as inferred from FTIR and XAFS Thermal analysis (TG-DSC) shows that the incorporation of vanadium in magnetite structure leads to an increase of superficial hydroxyl groups and a decrease in temperature of phase transformation maghemite-hematite Vanadium incorporation can Promote the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) on Fe3-xVxO4 and degradation of the dye with high degree of decolorization The improvement of adsorption activity may be related to the increase of superficial hydroxyl. The high catalytic activity is related to the improvement of adsorption activity, the intensification of H2O2 decomposition by vanadium on the magnetite surface to produce (OH)-O-center dot and the improvement of election transfer by vanadium to produce a more efficient regeneration of the Fenton active specie Fe2+ Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B V All rights reserved.