Green synthesis of the Cu/Fe3O4 nanoparticles using Morinda morindoides leaf aqueous extract: A highly efficient magnetically separable catalyst for the reduction of organic dyes in aqueous medium at room temperature

•Green synthesis of Cu/Fe3O4 nanoparticles by Morinda morindoides leaf extract.•Reduction of organic dyes in aqueous medium.•Catalyst was characterized using XRD, SEM, EDS, UV–visible, TEM, VSM and TGA-DTA.•The catalyst can be recovered by a magnet and reused several times without significant loss of catalytic activity. This paper reports the green and in-situ preparation of the Cu/Fe3O4 magnetic nanocatalyst synthesized using Morinda morindoides leaf extract without stabilizers or surfactants. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, UV–visible, TEM, VSM and TGA-DTA. The catalytic performance of the resulting nanocatalyst was examined for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), Congo red (CR) and Rhodamine B (RhB) in an environmental friendly medium at room temperature. The catalyst was recovered using an external magnet and reused several times without appreciable loss of its catalytic activity. In addition, the stability of the recycled catalyst has been proved by SEM and EDS techniques.