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Malachite green (MG) pollution has a negative impact on human health. At present, the method of removing it is inconvenient to operate and the cost is high, which has aroused widespread concern. In this study, MgO functionalized magnetic activated carbon (MgO-mAC) prepared by the sol–gel method was used to remove MG in water. The physical and chemical properties of MgO-mAC were tested by SEM, TEM, FTIR, XRD, BET and VSM. The effects of adsorbent dosage, solution pH, contact time, initial MG concentration and temperature on adsorption were studied by batch experiments. The adsorption kinetics data is well described by a pseudo-second-order model. The equilibrium data fits the Langmuir isotherm well. When the pH is 8 and the contact time is 360min, the maximum adsorption capacity of MG is 3809mg$\cdot$g${}^{-1}$. In thermodynamic studies, $\Delta {\mathrm{\text{G}}}^{\circ }<0$, $\Delta {\mathrm{\text{H}}}^{\circ }>0$, $\Delta \mathrm{\text{S}}>0$, MG adsorption is an endothermic and spontaneous adsorption process. The current synthesis method is simple in operation and cheap in raw materials, which can greatly reduce the cost of synthesis. Hence, the MgO-mAC material will be an effective adsorbent for removing MG from aqueous solutions.

In this study, the development of a graphite paste electrode (GPE) modified by copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO@GP) to be used as a practical and economical sensor for the electrochemical sensing of malachite green (MG) has been elucidated. The sol–gel technique was applied for the synthesis of CuO nanoparticles (NPS) from copper chloride (CuCl${}_2)$, where the surfactant cetylpyridinium chloride (C${}_{21}$H${}_{38}$NCl) played the role of a capping agent. The synthesized CuO NPS were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A bare GPE was modified using these CuO NPS and thus developed; the new electrode was used as a working electrode (WE) in a 3-electrode system for studying the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) responses of MG. Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) with a pH value of 6 was used as the optimum buffer. Using DPV, a widely linear operational range of 1–1000 $\mu$M was obtained with a detection limit of 0.18 $\mu$M. This CuO@GP provided excellent repeatability, reproducibility and prolonged stability for the MG molecule. For the selectivity study, various common interfering agents were used to observe MG’s corresponding peak current variation. Moreover, this electrode demonstrated a successful application for detecting MG in pond water and fish flesh. This method is effective for similar other applications.