The octosilicate Na-RUB-18 has the ability to exchange its original sodium with cetyltrimethylammonium cations. This procedure leads to interlayer space expansion, with the aim of obtaining inorganic-organic nanostructured hybrids by chemical modification reactions. The silylating agent 3-trimethoxysilylpropylurea was attached to the inorganic layer using heterogeneous methodology. The new organofunctionalized material was characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, C-13 and Si-29 nuclear magnetic resonances in the solid state, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The amount of silylating agent immobilized on surface was 2.03 mmol g(-1), with a basal distance of 2.43 nm. Nuclear magnetic resonance of C-13 and Si-29 nuclei evidenced covalent bond formation between organosilyl and silanol groups at the surface. The new synthesized nanostructured layered material was able to remove the textile dye Reactive Black 5 from aqueous solution, followed through a batchwise process. The effects of stirring time, adsorbent dosage and pH on the adsorption capacity demonstrated that 150 min is enough to reach equilibrium at 298 +/- 1 K at pH 3.0. Based on error function values the data were best fitted to fractional-order kinetic models and compared to pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and chemisorption kinetic models. The equilibrium data were better fitted to the Sips isotherm models. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.