High carbon-resistance Ni/Ce-AlO catalysts have been developed for dry reforming of methane (DRM) that is attracting growing attention for chemical recycling of CO2 to fuels/chemicals. Cerium is definitely identified to exist in the form of CeAlO3 phase after reduction at 900 degrees C, and so is it under running conditions. The formation of CeAlO3 phase significantly enhances the catalyst carbon-resistance without decreasing the activity. Whereas the catalysts with or without CeAlO3 all show good activity maintenance within 250 h testing at 800 degrees C using 20,000 mL h(-1) g(cat)(-1), their carbon deposition amounts exhibit significant decrease from 0.92 to 0.29 g g(cat)(-1) along with the increase of the CeAlO3 phase. The presence of CeAlO3 can inhibit growth of graphitic carbon on nickel surface while the formation of amorphous carbon is independent of the CeAlO3. The CeAlO3 species shows ability for decomposing CO2 to form active surface oxygen and therefore the carbon-resistance promotion by nature is suggested to be contributed to an oxidative environment around Ni particles. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.