Attrition-resistant Ni-Mg/SiO2-Al2O3 catalysts for fluidized bed syngas methanation were prepared by combining co-precipitation and spray granulation using different silica sources including acidic silica sol (SS), sodium silicate (NS) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). Air-jet attrition tests showed that the attrition strength of the resulting catalysts followed an order of C-10TEOS > C-33SS > C-1ONS > C-10SS, where C-10TEOS, as an example, refers to the catalyst with 10 wt.% silica using TEOS as its silica source. Characterizations show that the porosity and skeletal structure have strong correlation with catalyst attrition strength. Simultaneous hydrolysis of TEOS and co-precipitation caused C-10TEOS to have dense and continuous skeletal structure to have the high strength of its Ni-Mg/SiO2-Al2O3 precursor particles and thus the improved attrition resistance of sprayed catalyst. Silica sol filled in the voids among precursor particles resulted in a compact framework in C-33SS but its Ni-Mg/Al2O3 precursor had weak attrition resistance. Atmospheric syngas methanation over these catalysts at an SV of 600 NL g(-1) h(-1) in a fixed bed reactor clarified an activity order of C-10TEOS > C-1ONS approximate to C-33SS. The TEOS also enabled highly dispersed metallic Ni and many surface active sites to facilitate the methanation activity and stability of this catalyst. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.