Europium is the “rarest” rare-earth element in the earth’s crust. Nanocomposite-mediated adsorptive extraction of europium is very promising due to cost-effectiveness and environmental acceptability. A new-fangled ethylene glycol nano zerovalent iron supported citric acid modified MCM41 (EG-nZVI/CA-MCM-41) nanocomposite was synthesized employing green tea extracts. The structural and morphological characterizations of the prepared nanomaterials were carried out by XRD, FTIR, XPS, and FE-SEM, EDS analysis. Under optimal conditions (i.e., pH 5.2, 40 °C), the nanocomposite could remove 91.5% Eu (III) from an initial dose of 750 mg/L, yielding to an extraordinarily high sorption capacity of 714.28 mg/g. While the best fit Freundlich isotherm (R2: 0.955) suggests a monolayer adsorption, the kinetic analysis indicates chemisorption process. Rapid adsorption through electrostatic interaction, followed by reduction at the nZVI surface could be mechanism for Eu (III) removal. The green synthesized nanocomposite also has significant reusability capacity for up to 3 consecutive cycles.

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