Abstract: Bentonite, composed primarily of montmorillonite, is a natural adsorbent material. A novel sorbent with specific structure and property, identified by MEA-HDTMA-IMB, was prepared by modifying Ca-bentonite (IMB) obtained from Inner Mongolia of China with both 2-mercaptoethylamine hydrochloride (MEA) and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTMA). The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal analysis (TG-DTA), and specific surface area (N2-BET). The results indicated that both specific surface area and basal spacing of MEA-HDTMA-IMB were increased significantly. The performance of this sorbent showed that MEA-HDTMA-IMB could sorb p-nitrophenol and copper simultaneously from the mixed solution. The sorption of organic pollutant onto MEA-HDTMA-IMB was better than HDTMA-IMB and controlled by a partition process. The sorption of heavy metal onto MEA-HDTMA-IMB was dominated by the formation of complexes and in close proximity to MEA-IMB.

Key words: Bentonite, Modification, Sorption, Water treatment, Organic pollutant, Heavy metal