Farnaz Fazlali, - Department of Chemistry, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box. ۱۴۱۵۵-۴۳۸۳ Tehran, Iran
Ali Reza Mahjoub - Department of Chemistry, Tarbiat Modares University, P.O. Box. ۱۴۱۵۵-۴۳۸۳ Tehran, Iran

At the present time, water pollution is a very dangerous and prevalent problem in our world [1], caused by perilous and toxic heavy metal ions as a result of innumerable industrial actions. These days, due to the industry’s development, we understand a sharp rise in industrial wastewater containing a high amount of heavy metals such as Hg (II), As (III) [2], Cd (II), and Pb (II), particularly in developing countries This study investigated on developing an effective method of using thiol functionalized acid activated exfoliated bentonite clay with good performance to eliminate four toxic heavy metals (As3+, Hg2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+) from water. A unique, low-cost, and locally accessible adsorbent with great adsorption capacity comprising exfoliated organofunctionalized bentonite clay from Qazvin, Iran, was synthesized. To increase the adsorption productivity of acid activated bentonite (AB), clay was exfoliated (EAB) and then immobilized in toluene with addition of MPTMS as a modifier (MEAB). The MEAB greatly increased removal of 4 target ions. This research confirmed that MEAB shows identical or even better adsorption capacities compared to other conventional adsorbents and that the binding capacity of heavy metal ions is about four times higher compared to unfunctionalized samples [3]. As a consequence, this new functionalized exfoliated bentonite may be a good alternative to economical adsorbents for the removal of toxic and perilous heavy metals.