TiO2-SiO2 with various compositions prepared by the coprecipitation method and vanadia loaded on TiO2-SiO2 were investigated with respect to their physico-chemical characteristics and catalytic behavior in SCR of NO by NH3 and in the undesired oxidation Of SO2 to SO3, using BET, XRD, XPS, NH3-TPD, acidity measurement by the titration method and activity test. TiO2-SiO2, compared with pure TiO2, exhibits a remarkably stronger acidity, a higher BET surface area, a lower crystallinity of anatase titania and results in allowing a good thermal stability and a higher vanadia dispersion on the support up to high loadings of 15 Wt% V2O5. The SCR activity and N-2 selectivity are found to be more excellent over vanadia loaded on TiO2-SiO2 with 10-20 mol% Of SiO2 than over that on pure TiO2, and this is considered to be associated with highly dispersed vanadia on the supports and large amounts of NH3 adsorbed on the catalysts. With increasing SiO2 content, the remarkable activity decrease in the oxidation Of SO2 to SO3, favorable for industrial SCR catalysts, was also observed, strongly depending on the existence of vanadium species of the oxidation state close to V4+ on TiO2-SiO2, while V5+ exists on TiO2, according to XPS. It is concluded that vanadia loaded on Ti-rich TiO2-SiO2 with low SiO2 content is suitable as SCR catalysts for sulfur-containing exhaust gases due to showing not only the excellent de-NO, activity but also the low SO2 oxidation performance. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.