The adsorption of palladium(II), rhodium(III), and platinum(IV) from diluted hydrochloric acid solutions onto Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles has been investigated. The parameters studied include the contact time and the concentrations of metals and other solutes such as H(+) and chloride. The equilibrium time was reached in less than 20 min for all metals. The maximum loading capacity of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles for Pd(II), Rh(III), and Pt(IV) was determined to be 0.103, 0.149, and 0.068 mmol g(-1), respectively. A sorption mechanism for Pd(II), Rh(III), and Pt(IV) has been proposed and their conditional adsorption equilibrium constants have been determined to be logK=1.72, 1.69, and 1.84, respectively. Different compositions of eluting solution were tested for the recovery of Pt(IV), Pd(II), and Rh(III) from Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles. It was found that 0.5 mol L(-1) HNO(3) can elute all of the metal ions simultaneously, while 1 mol L(-1) NaHSO(3) was an effective eluting solution for Rh(III), and 0.5 mol L(-1) NaClO(4) for Pt(IV). In competitive adsorption, the nanoparticles showed stronger affinity for Rh(III) than for Pd(II) and Pt(IV).