A novel and platelike nanomaterial of methionine-montmorillonite composite was successfully prepared and applied to the adsorption of lead ions in aqueous. The application of a series of characterization methods, such as XRD, FT-IR, BET, TG/DTG, SEM revealed the morphology, structure and physicochemical properties of the nanocomposites and confirmed the anchoring effect of methionine on Na-Mt. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the filling arrangement of methionine in the interlayer channel can be oriented along the y-axis or the z-axis or inclined to the silicate surface to form a single layer structure. Under optimized experimental conditions, Met-Mt-0.8 composites were verified to be the most effective adsorbent for Pb2+ ion along with a maximum adsorption capacity of 117.79 mg/g, significantly higher than that of Na-Mt (101.11 mg/g). Gaussian program and Multiwfn program were united to take a sight on the microscopic adsorption mechanism of Met-Mt and Pb2+, concluding that methionine formed a complex with lead ions and facilitated them to lock in the montmorillonite layer. Moreover, methionine is ligated with Pb2+ by oxygen atom on C-OH in the carboxyl group. (C) 2019 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.