Adsorption and electro-assisted method removal of boron in aqueous solution by nickel hydroxide

•The boron adsorbent of nickel hydroxide was prepared by precipitation method and used for conventional adsorption and electro-assisted adsorption without acid desorption.•Electro-assisted adsorption method (57.5 mg/g, 12 h) has a faster adsorption rate and higher adsorption capacity than conventional adsorption (45.4 mg/g, 48 h).•Electro-assisted adsorption method was used to remove boron from aqueous solutions at low voltage (0.2 V), and the mechanism of low-voltage adsorption was explained.