Abstract--The sorption of 8-hydroxyquinoline onto some clays and oxides was studied as a function of concentration, pH, and time. The sorption reaction reached equilibrium in about 5 hr, was irreversible, and reached a maximum at pH 5. The decrease in sorption on both sides of the maximum was attributed to electrostatic interactions of charged molecules with similarly charged surfaces and/or neighbors as well as solvent and proton competition. X-ray powder diffraction of dried clays showed that a one-layer complex formed in which the molecules lay flat between the clay interlayers. The sorption onto the clays included physical and exchange sorption and was accompanied by exchangeable cation hydrolysis. At high surface coverage the silicate structure deteriorated in the direction of the Z-axis due to chemical aggressiveness of the reagent.