A core-shell material was prepared using SBA-15 crystallites as cores for the growth of a ZnO shell, followed by Cu-0 dispersion. The resulting Cu/SBA-15@ZnO nanostructure displayed higher specific surface area (SSA) and higher number of smaller pores as compared to the starting materials. Dispersion of fine Cu(0)NPs induced a compaction of the host matrice and a marked decay of the hydrophilic character, explained in terms of the involvement of terminal hydroxyl groups in competitive -HO:Cu interaction at the expense of H-bridges with water. Heating at 400-450 degrees C seems to trigger ZnO dehydroxylation with possible self-polycondensation and/or the formation of Si-O-Zn bridges. This is an additional explanation of the significant SSA increase and decrease in the average pore diameter. Both ZnO and (CuNP)-N-0 incorporation induced shifts in the UV-vis absorption band towards higher wavelengths, indicating a decrease in the optical band gap energy and an improvement of the conductance properties. As compared to ZnO, Cu(0)NPs produced stronger improvement of the conductance, which was found to increase with higher frequencies. Cu/SBA-15@ZnO also displayed higher affinity towards hydrogen as compared to SBA-15@ZnO and SBA-15 at ambient conditions. These outstanding properties combined to an appreciable thermal stability are worth to be prone to deeper investigations, because they can open promising prospects for Cu/SBA-15@ZnO as sensor, electrode material, electrocatalyst and/or hydrogen capture matrice. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.