Ni/SiO2 and the bimetallic NixIn/SiO2 catalysts with different Ni/In ratios were tested for the selective hydrogenation of acetylene, and their physicochemical properties before and after the reaction were characterized by means of N-2-sorption, H-2-TPR, XRD, TEM, XPS, H-2 chemisorption, C2H4-TPD, NH3-TPD, FT-IR of adsorbed pyridine, and TG/DTA and Raman. A promotional effect of In on the performance of Ni/SiO2 was found, and NixIn/SiO2 with a suitable Ni/In ratio gave much higher acetylene conversion, ethylene selectivity and catalyst stability than Ni/SiO2. This is ascribed to the geometrical isolation of the reactive Ni atoms with the inert In ones and the charge transfer from the In atoms to Ni ones, both of which are favorable for reducing the adsorption strength of ethylene and restraining the C-C hydrogenolysis and the polymerizations of acetylene and the intermediate compounds. On the whole, Ni6In/SiO2 and Ni10In/SiO2 had better performance. Nevertheless, with increasing the In content, the selectivity to the C4+ hydrocarbons tended to increase due to the enhanced catalyst acidity because of the charge transfer from the In atoms to Ni ones. As the Lewis acid ones, the In sites could promote the polymerization. The catalyst deactivation was also analyzed. We propose that the Ni/SiO2 deactivation is mainly attributed to the phase change from metallic Ni to nickel carbide. The introduction of In inhibited the formation of nickel carbide. However, as the In content increased, the carbonaceous deposit became the main reason for the NixIn/SiO2 deactivation due to the enhanced catalyst acidity. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.