The physical and chemical properties of tungsten oxide supported on SBA-15 rnesoporous silica prepared by a controlled grafting process through atomic layer deposition (ALD) were studied using complementary characterization methods. X-ray diffraction, optical absorption, and transmission electron microscopy showed that tungsten oxide species are highly dispersed on SBA-15 surfaces, even at 30 wt% WO, content (surface density, 1.33 WOx/nm(2)). ALD methods led to samples with much better thermal stability than those prepared via impregnation. Dehydration reactions of 2-butanol and methanol dehydration were used as probe reactions. Differences in reaction rates between the samples prepared by ALD and conventional impregnation may reflect the sintering resistance of catalysts prepared by ALD. Notably, temperature-programmed oxidation of spent catalysts showed that carbon formation was not responsible for the different dehydration rates in samples prepared by ALD and impregnation. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.