The problem of water pollution has aroused great concern on a global scale. However

there are many kinds of pollutants in water with strong stability and being hard to be degraded. It is difficult to remove pollutants efficiently and completely by traditional methods such as physical flocculation

natural sedimentation

and filtration. In recent years

the adsorption method has been favored due to its advantages of high efficiency

low cost

easy operation

and easy availability of adsorbents. Attapulgite is a natural hydrous magnesium-rich aluminosilicate clay mineral with a layer-chain structure and a nanorod-like crystal morphology. Attapulgite has a large specific surface area

abundant nanochannels

and active surface groups

thus exhibiting excellent adsorption characteristics

combined with advantages of low cost

safety and environmental protection. As natural adsorbent materials

attapulgite shows great application prospects in the field of environmental remediation. In this paper

recent advances in functionalization of attapulgite and its application in adsorption of pollutants and adsorption mechanism are summarized and reviewed.