Developing heterogeneous non-precious metal catalysts that can achieve high catalytic activity and good product selectivity at the same time is still a challenging and interesting work for the selective oxidation of styrene into valuable chemicals from environmental and industrial points of view. Herein, hierarchical hollow nickel silicate (Ni3Si2O5(OH)(4)) microflowers assembled from well-defined Ni3Si2O5(OH)(4) nanosheets have been prepared by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. The intriguing structure endows the hollow Ni3Si2O5(OH)(4) microflowers a high surface area of 177.4 m(2) g(-1) and an average pore size of 3.9 nm. When employed as a catalyst for the selective oxidation of styrene in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as a ecological sustainable green oxidant, the Ni3Si2O5(OH)(4) exhibits an attractive catalytic performance with a remarkably high styrene conversion of 99.3% and a high selectivity of 81.1% to benzaldehyde. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.