A novel porous alumina as monolithic support was prepared by anodization. The activity of the plate-type anodic alumina in dimethyl ether (DME) hydrolysis was compared with that of the commercial Al2O3 and zeolite catalysts. The results show that the hydration-treated anodic Al2O3/Al monolith exhibited higher activity than the commercial Al2O3 in DME hydrolysis reaction system. Meanwhile, the anodic Al2O3/Al monolith showed better catalytic performance in DME hydrolysis compared with the zeolite catalysts due to its less unfavorable by-products. Finally, an 80 h stability evaluation was carried out and the results show that the anodic gamma-Al2O3/Al monolith has an excellent ability for coke suppression in DME hydrolysis. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.