High-efficiency removal of Pb(II) and humate by a CeO2–MoS2 hybrid magnetic biochar

•A novel CeO2-MoS2 hybrid biochar was prepared for Pb(II) and humate removal.•Hybrid biochar showed enhanced Pb(II) and humate removal ability.•More than 263 mg Pb and 218 mg humate were removed by per gram hybrid biochar.•Hybrid biochar composite was easily recovered with a magnet after use.•Adsorption mechanisms were proposed and illustrated. This work prepares a novel CeO2–MoS2 hybrid magnetic biochar (CMMB) for the adsorptive removal of Pb(II) and humate from aqueous solution. The CMMB was evaluated against magnetic biochar (MB). The results showed that CMMB exhibited strong magnetic separation ability. Hybridization of CMMB greatly improved Pb(II) and humate removal compared to MB, with >99% Pb(II) and humate removed within 6 h. Pb(II) and humate removal capacities of CMMB were 263.6 mg/g and 218.0 mg/g, respectively, with negligible influence of ion strength in the range of 0–0.1 mol/L NaNO3. Pb(II) removal mechanism involved predominately with electrostatic attraction, Cπ–Pb(II) bond interaction, and surface adsorption and complexation combined processes; while pore-filling, partition effect and π–π interaction contributed to the adsorption of humate. Overall, the introduction of graphene-like MoS2 materials into biochar benefits both of the biomass resources recovery and environmental protection.