Heavy metal pollution such as water contamination by Pb, Hg, Cu, Cd and Cr ions is induced by rapid urbanization and industrialization and is a major threat to human health. One of the most efficient processes to clean contaminated water is adsorption. Adsorbents such as clay minerals and modified clays are efficient for the removal of metal ions from wastewater. This manuscript reviews current research in heavy metal adsorption by clay minerals such as halloysite, bentonite, montmorillonite, vermiculite and attapulgite, from 2013 to 2017, and highlights the main adsorption mechanisms. The structure, composition and synthesis of various clay minerals and modified clays are presented.

Amine groups play significant roles in polymeric composites for heavy metals removal. However, generating a composite with a large number of functional and stable amine groups based on clay is still a challenge. In this work, a new amine-functionalized adsorbent based on acid-activated vermiculite (a-Verm) was prepared by organic modification of silane coupling agent as bridge, followed by in situ polymerization of acrylamide (AM) and further grafting of triethylene tetramine (TETA). The obtained polymeric composite g-PAM/OVerm was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermal analysis (TG/DTG), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses, confirming that amine groups were successfully grafted onto the surface of Verm. The efficacy g-PAM/OVerm for removing Pb(II) was tested. The adsorption equilibrium data on g-PAM/OVerm was in good accordance with the Langmuir adsorption isotherms, and the adsorption maximal value of Pb(II) was 219.4 mg·g−1. The adsorption kinetic data fit the pseudo-second-order kinetic model well. Additionally, g-PAM/OVerm has better selectivity for Pb(II) ion in comparison with Zn(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions. The present work shows that g-PAM/OVerm holds great potential for removing Pb(II) from wastewater, and provides a new and efficient method for the removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater.