A batch experiment was carried out to study adsorption kinetics of aniline on clay-layer (CL) of Lou soil modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB, CB) at varying ratio (100CB and 50CB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide + sodium dodecylsulphonate (CTMAB+SDS, CS) mixture and its mechanism. Results show that the modification of the CL of Lou soil increased significantly the adsorption velocity of aniline; a rising temperature sped up its initial velocity (V_0.5) only, but did not have any significant effect on the other adsorption velocity parameters. Aniline adsorption velocity increased with increasing aniline concentration. At the two experimental temperatures, 20℃ and 40℃, all the three aniline adsorption velocity parameters, i.e. total adsorption velocity (V_t), initial adsorption velocity (V_0.5) and fast adsorption velocity (V_f), did not vary much with the modification ratio when aniline was added at a low rate, 50μg•mL^-1, but displayed a decreasing order of 100CB > 50CB ≈120CS > CK at 5% level when the addition was at 200μg•mL^-1. The aniline adsorption process appeared to have two phases, fast adsorption and slow adsorption, of which the former dominated the total adsorption, and turned into the latter within 3h (t_c). Lyophobic proportional adsorption was the major mechanism dominating the fast adsorption and demonstrating the feature of a concentration driving force. However, slow adsorption generally occurred on the surface of unmodified soil with a complex mechanism.