In this research, the pore characteristics of catalyst supports have been taken into consideration in order to prolong the life time of catalysts from coke deposition in methane cracking reaction. Consequently, the monomodal porous silica supports with straight pore (SBA-15) and sinusoidal pore (Xerogel-5) of similar mesopore size, and bimodal porous silica supports with straight pores (MCM-41) and sinusoidal pores (BPS-5) of different pore sizes were applied as the supports for nickel catalyst. An aqueous solution of nickel nitrate (Ni(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O) was used as the catalyst precursor and loaded onto the supports by using incipient wetness impregnation method. The performance and life time of the obtained catalysts in methane cracking reaction were investigated using a fixed-bed reactor at a temperature range of 500-650 degrees C at atmospheric pressure (CH4 diluted with N-2 at a volume ratio of 1:4). The highest methane conversion and longest catalyst life time were obtained at a lower reaction temperature (500 degrees C) with Ni/BPS-5 catalyst, as its effective diffusion coefficient was approximately 8.5 times higher than that of Ni/Xerogel-5 catalyst. Moreover, the catalyst with straight pore (Ni/SBA-15) exhibited a slightly higher effective diffusion coefficient and catalytic performance than that with sinusoidal pore (Ni/Xerogel-5). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.