A spent bleaching earth from an edible oil refinery has been treated with an aqueous cetyltrimethylammonium bromide solution in order to remove the edible oil impregnating the solid material and to intercalate the ammonium cation in the interlayer space of the bentonite. The obtained material was characterized by XRD and TGA-DSC and the results were compared with that of a virgin bleaching earth. The prepared organophilic bentonite was used to remove the dye acid black 10B from the aqueous solution. The removal study included the sorption isotherms, kinetics, pH and temperature effect. The maximum removal capacity obtained (100 mg g(-1)) was better than those of some non conventional sorbents. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.