Zirconia modified mesoporous silica such as Zr-SBA-15, Zr-KIT-6, Zr-SiO2, and Zr-FSM-16 with Si/Zr = 10 ratio over Ni-MoS catalysts were prepared under the hydrothermal condition and compared with Ni-MoS/Zr-Al (10). The prepared materials were characterized by various techniques like X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), N-2-sorption studies, diffuse reflectance measurement UV-Vis spectrophotometers (DR-UV-vis), NH3-temperature-programmed desorption (NH3-TPD)/H-2-Temperature programmed reduction (H-2-TPR), Laser-Raman, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. The activity of materials was investigated in hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of jojoba oil to produce long-chain hydrocarbons at 225-375 degrees C under 10 -40 bar H-2 pressure in a stainless steel fixed bed reactor. Among the catalysts tested, Ni-MoS/Zr-K (10) exhibited the highest catalytic activity of 90% conversion and 79% yield of C18-C22 hydrocarbon. The structure-activity relationships and product distributions were also discussed in detail. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.