The CeMCM-41 materials were synthesized at environmental temperature with different Si/Ce ratios (10.25. 50, 100 and 200) and were characterized by XRD, EDX nitrogen adsorption (BET-BJH), thermal analysis (TG-DTG-DTA), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), visible UV spectroscopy (UV-vis) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The XRD patterns showed highly ordinate CeMCM-41 mesoporous materials with surface areas of 681.3-1289 m(2) g(-1) and pore diameter means of 34 angstrom. The structural properties are strongly related to the quantity of incorporated Ce in the mesoporous structure of the MCM-41. The diffuse reflectance spectra of calcined CeMCM-41 samples showed a single peak with a maximum at 300 nm and also its intensity increases with an increase in Ce content of the samples. (C) 2012 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.