Abstract: Antibacterial agent silver loaded vermiculite was prepared by ion exchange method with vermiculite from Yili， Xinjiang Autonomous Region as raw material. During the preparation，vermiculite must be pre-treated at first，which mainly included acidification，heating treatment，and sodium treatment.Effects of reaction temperature，reaction time，silver nitrate concentration，and solution pH on amount of loaded silver were discussed.Results showed that the optimal reaction conditions were as follows：reaction temperature was 50 ℃，reaction time was 5 h，silver nitrate concentration was 0.1 mol/L，and pH=5.Under such conditions，the reaction product loaded the largest amount of silver and the maximum load was 5.23%.The antibacterial activity was tested for E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus by inhibition zone method，and results showed loaded silver vermiculite had strong antibacterial property.

Key words: vermiculite, amount of loaded silver, ion exchange, antibacterial property