Mesoporous zirconia-yttria (ZYO) and ceria-zirconia-yttria (CZYO) have been synthesized for the first time from simple inorganic salts rather than expensive alkoxides in aqueous medium using CTAB as template. The approach is simple and economical. The fabricated ZYO and CZYO materials show typical mesoporous characteristics. The surface areas are 200 and 139 m(2) g(-1) and the average pore diameters are ca. 5.7 and 6.8 nm, respectively. The framework of the meso-materials show high crystallinity, and the mesopores are narrow in pore size distribution and show interconnected feature. The high thermal stability and the large surface area at temperature as high as 550 degrees C suggests that the materials are suitable for high-temperature catalytic applications. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.