A novel core-shell polyamide 6 (PA6)/chitosan (CS)-Fe3+ composite fibers with PA6 core and CS shell was fabricated by coaxial electrospinning and chelating with ferric iron. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) indicated that CS was uniformly distributed on the surface of PA6. The energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) demonstrated the existence of Fe3+ and complexing between Fe3+ and CS. In addition, the core-shell PA6/CS-Fe3+ composite fibers exhibited high tetracycline removal rate, and could retain its high efficiency after desorption and regeneration. The prepared materials have excellent potential as adsorbents for wastewater treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.