A family of nickel based mixed oxides was synthesized, characterized and tested in the CSC of Toluene. A rhodium based catalyst was also studied as a reference. The mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by the precipitation method used in the synthesis of hydrotalcite type solids and characterized by XRD, N-2 adsorption-desorption for textural properties, EDX-Field Emission Microscopy and XPS. The reference catalyst was prepared using the successive wetness impregnation method supported on gamma-Al2O3. Successful substitution of Mg2+ by Ni2+ and that of Al3+ by Fe3+ was evidenced by XRD as the characteristic seven signals of the hydrotalcite are present in the diffractograms. All signals are slightly shifted which implies a modification on the cell parameters caused by the replacements of the cations within the structure. When Ce3+ was used in the synthesis a small proportion formed part of a hydrotalcite structure. However, most of it precipitated forming nano domains of CeO2. The hydrotalcite type nickel formulation MgNiAl and MgNiFeAl presented a poor catalytic activity as compared with the MgNiCeAl and reference catalysts. The addition of Ce seems to improve the surface properties of the catalyst and enhance the reaction performance of MgNiAl by increasing its resistance to carbon deposition. The steady state conversion of the reference rhodium catalyst at high temperature is in the same order of magnitude of that obtained with the MgNiCeAl formulation. However, MgNiCeAl shows higher conversion at lower temperatures. The presence of nanoparticles of cerium seems to be responsible for the observed results. Additionally, a high hydrogen yield was obtained. This result implies that the main reaction involved under the reaction conditions studied is steam reforming. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.