Abstract. Copper impregnated aluminum pillared montmorillonites (Cu-iAlpill-MMTs) were prepared by adding Cu 2+ solution into dried aluminum polyohydroxy cation intercalated montmorillonite using various Cu 2+ concentrations, i.e. 4, 7, 10 and 13 wt% and then calcining at 500 o C. The Cu-iAlpill-MMTs possessed slit-liked mesopores with pore diameters of 3.3-3.8 nm and ~6-35 nm as observed from the nitrogen adsorption isotherms. The mesopore quantities of Cu-iAlpill-MMTs gradually decreased with the increase of impregnated Cu 2+ concentrations. The impregnated CuO occupied not only the interior interlayers, but also the exterior surfaces of Cu-iAlpill-MMTs. The Cu-iAlpill-MMTs with 10 and 13 wt% of impregnated Cu 2+ could inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli. The Cu-iAlpill-MMTs effectively acted as the heterogeneous catalyst for removal reactive orange 16 (RO16) in Fenton or photo-Fenton oxidation treatments. The higher impregnated Cu 2+ and/or the longer treatment time brought about the higher percentage of RO16 removal.Key words: pillared montmorillonite, mesoporous materials, impregnation, advanced oxidation processes, adsorption.Facile preparation of copper impregnated aluminum pillared montmorillonite: nanoclays for wastewater treatment lonite using facile impregnation method, in which the Cu doped amount was controllable. The Cu impregnation was performed using the aluminum polyhydroxy cation intercalated montmorillonite as the host substrate since the intercalated aluminum polyhydroxy cation could enlarge the interlayer space of montmorillonite, resulting in the increase of impregnated Cu uptake. In addition, the concentration of impregnated Cu was varied in order to investigate its effect on the structure and properties of the resultant products since the Cu quantity was considered to play an important role in the catalytic activity and antibacterial property.The catalytic oxidation activities of the as-prepared Cu impregnated aluminum pillared montmorillonites were investigated for removal reactive orange 16 (RO16). This reactive dye was used as a model dye containing wastewater because it was commonly used in textile industries due to its easy application in dyeing process and stability during usage [18]. However, the stability of reactive dyes resulted in the difficulty in elimination by biological and conventional wastewater treatments, therefore; the reactive dyes were important pollutants from the textile effluents. The as-prepared Cu impregnated aluminum pillared montmorillonites were considered to promote the decolourisation, degradation and mineralisation of reactive dye from the model wastewater.