An amorphous NiB/SiO2 catalyst, with a large specific surface area, was prepared by a reductive-impregnation method. The selective hydrogenation of cyclopentadiene to cyclopentene was carried out in a continuous flow fix-bed reactor at atmospheric pressure and with 10 g g cat(-1) h(-1) of cyclopentadiene feed. The catalyst showed high selectivity and stability. Cyclopentene was obtained in 96-100% yield at complete conversion of cyclopentadiene at temperatures ranging from 80 degrees C to 200 degrees C and no significant decrease of the activity was observed during the reaction period of 500 h. The catalyst sample was characterized by ICP, XRD, DSC, SEM, XPS, BET and O-2 adsorption. XRD measurement revealed that the amorphous state was kept after catalytic reaction. Differential kinetic study showed that the hydrogenation proceeded according to a Rideal-Eley mechanism.