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To solve the problem of available water conservation in sand fixation, the clay - based air-permeable and water-retention material which was used to plant grass and stabilize sand in desertification region was prepared with clay modified by emulsifying discarded vegetable oil and emulsifier OP-10. The water retention property was studied in simulating desertification environmental climate and the materials were characterized by means of UV-Vis, SEM, TG and porosity analysis. The result showed that the materials has excellent air-permeable and water-retention properties, which owning to that vegetable oil adhering evenly to clay particle surfaces, making the clay pores changing from hydrophilic to hydrophobic and so inhibiting the water evaporation. Grass-planting experiment showed that, with reasonable mass ratio of emulsifier, vegetable oil and soil particles being 1:4:20, the materials not only inhibits water evaporation but also maintains sound air permeability so shat the germination rate and survival rate of grass was significantly improved. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.