Catalytic performance of Rh catalyst supported on CeO2, Al2O3, SiO2, ZrO2, MgO or TiO2 for steam reforming of 2-propanol has been studied. The performance was greatly influenced by the type of the supports through interactions between Rh and supports. CeO2-supported Rh catalyst resulted in the highest selectivity among the catalysts studied here. It probably has a longer catalytic life than Al2O3-supported catalysts actually known to be stable, because the amount of coke deposited on it was much smaller than that on the Al2O3-supported one. This mitigation of coke deposition has been explained by a reduction and oxidation cycle of CeO2. (C) 2003 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.