The hydrothermal stability of Ti02- and Zr02-based materials was studied by exposing the samples to liquid water at 523 K for 60 h in a batch reactor. No phase transformation or loss in BET surface area was observed for Ti02-based materials that had initial BET surface area of less than 52 m2/g. In contrast, the BET surface area decreased and the primary crystallite size increased for all Zr02-based materials tested. The BET surface area decreased and the primary crystallite size increased for high BET surface area TiO2 (156 m2/g) and Zr02 (246 m2/g). Silica-containing TiO2 only lost 30% of its high BET surface area (from 128 to 90 m2/g). In contrast a material composed of silica-phosphate-Zr02 lost 56-72% of its BET surface area. Using the crystalline TiO2 as a support, we prepared and tested a Pt-Re05/Ti02 catalyst for hydrodeoxygenation of sorbitol. Pt-Re0x/TiO2 was almost 2 times more active on a total Pt basis than Pt-Re0x/C catalyst. Between 0.1 and 0.9 wt% of coke formed on the catalyst surface after reaction depending on the reaction conditions. The coke could be removed and the catalyst activity completely regenerated by an oxidation-reduction treatment. The catalyst showed only minimal change in BET surface area, TiO2 phase and TiO2 crystallite size after more than 163 h of time on stream. The CO chemisorption of Pt-Re05/TiO2 increased after reaction which was probably due to migration of ReOx species away from the Pt during the reaction. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.