Substituted natural gas (SNG) production via methanation reaction from syngas generated through gasification of coal/biomass can increase the energy diversity and reduce the dependence of fossil oil especially for those areas where fossil oil resources are scarce. In this study, the preparation, characterization and catalytic performance of a Ni-based methanation catalyst, consisting of highly dispersed nano-Ni particles encapsulated in a mesoporous silica (mSiO(2)) matrix, named as Ni#mSiO(2), is reported. Very small Ni particles (similar to 3 nm) were successfully synthesized via a two-step coprecipitation method with high Ni loading up to similar to 40% in the mSiO(2). The Ni#mSiO(2) catalyst has shown improved Ni sintering, coking and sulfur resistance compared to a commercial Ni methanation catalyst. The superior performance of Ni#mSiO(2) as compared to the supported Ni catalyst is attributed to the stabilization of Ni particles by the porous SiO2 matrix. This novel Ni#mSiO(2) catalyst is robust and suitable to produce SNG from syngas derived from gasification process. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.