Iron-rich microorganism-enabled synthesis of magnetic biocarbon for efficient adsorption of diclofenac from aqueous solution.

•Iron-rich biomass was obtained as sole precursor for magnetic biocarbon synthesis.•Magnetic property of Fe/BC resulted from zero valent iron in-situ reduced by carbon.•Microporous structure enabled Fe/BC a high adsorption capacity for DCF.•Adsorption isotherm, kinetic, thermodynamic and recycle studies were conducted.