In this paper, a novel mesoporous sulfated zirconium (M-ZrO2/SO42-) has been gotten by one-pot evaporation-induced self-assembly (one-pot EISA) strategy. The SXRD, N-2-physisorption and TEM characterization techniques indicated that M-ZrO2/SO42- possessed distinct mesostructure with big specific surface area (133.5 m(2) g(-1)), large pore volume (0.18 cm(3) g(-1)) and narrow pore size distribution (4.90 nm). Moreover, the existing states and the influence in mesostructure of introduced S species were detailedly investigated by the XRD, N-2-physisorption, TEM, TG-DSC, FT-IR and XPS techniques and the results showed that the S species, which existed as the type of SO42-, improved the textural properties of prepared materials. In addition, the NH3-TPD and IR spectra of adsorbed pyridine indicated the existence of strong Bronsted and Lewis acid sites in M-ZrO2/SO42- even evacuated at 400 degrees C. Furthermore, the MZrO2/SO42- was used as a promise solid acid catalyst and displayed excellent catalytic performance and reusability in Friedel-Crafts benzylation reaction. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.