A high Zr-loaded SBA-15 mesoporous material with high surface area, well-ordered structure, homogeneous Zr dispersion and high surface acidity has been prepared by a novel direct-post synthesis technique (DP). While maximum Zr loadings of 5.1 wt% and 16.7 wt% have been achieved in direct and post synthesis methods, respectively, the support synthesized by the DP method (ZrSBADP2) has yielded a Zr loading of 32.1 wt%. Also, a high acidity of 136 mu mol g(-1), favorable for catalysis reactions, has been reached for ZrSBADP2. The effect of cobalt concentration on the catalyst has also been examined on the NO to N-2 conversion via selective reduction (C3H8-SCR) with propane. It has been demonstrated that the catalyst with 2 wt% cobalt has shown the highest N-2 yield (70%) at 400 degrees C in the presence of 6 vol% O-2. The catalyst performance has significantly improved in the presence of water vapor where the N-2 yield increased to 54% and 70% at 300 degrees C and 350 degrees C, respectively, compared with 18% and 34% in the absence of water vapor. Also, at high temperatures (>= 400 degrees C), the presence of water vapor has not resulted in any decrease in the catalyst performance. The long term stability test has proved that the catalyst structure is retained in extreme prolonged reaction conditions, making it a suitable catalyst for real applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.