All kinds of heavy metal ions and synthetic dyes in water will produce serious environmental problems and damage to the human body. Activated carbon (AC)/hematite (H; α -Fe2O3) nanocomposites (ACH nanocomposites) have been prepared using a hydrothermal method in ferric citric alkaline solution. The microstructure, chemical composition and properties of as-prepared ACH nanocomposites were investigated, respectively. It has been proved that α -Fe2O3 nanoparticles embedded on the surface of AC greatly improved the hydrophilicity of AC. Results further showed that ACH nanocomposites could be used as adsorbents to effectively remove Cr 6 + and Cu 2 + from wastewater. The sorption process for Cr 6 + and Cu 2 + ions met the pseudo-second-order equation. The maximum adsorption capacities of Cu 2 + and Cr 6 + by ACH were about 20 mg/g and 21 mg/g, respectively. In addition, some organic dyes such as methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB) could also be degraded completely by ACH composites. Therefore, it is expected that ACH nanocomposites can be regarded as promising adsorbents and low-cost Fenton-like nanocomposites for the removal of pollutants from aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]