A series of pillared laponite clay-based Fe nanocomposites (denoted as Fe-Lap-RD) were synthesized by the so-called pillaring technique under different conditions. N-2 adsorption/desorption, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the Fe-Lap-RD nanocomposites. The photo-catalytic activity of the Fe-LapRD nanocomposites was evaluated in the photo-Fenton mineralization of 0.1 mM azo-dye acid black 1 (AB1) in the presence of 6.4 mM H2O2, 8W UVC light at an initial solution pH of 3.0. It was found that 100% mineralization of the model pollutant AB1 was achieved, while only trace amount of leached ferric ion was detected after 120 min reaction when 1.0 g/l Fe-Lap-RD was used as catalyst, which was prepared without thermal aging, followed by calcination at 723 K. Due to its high photo-catalytic activity and negligible Fe leaching, the Fe-Lap-RD nanocomposite is a promising heterogeneous catalyst for the photo-Fenton mineralization of organic compounds. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.