Sulfur compounds in commercial diesel were selectively removed by reactive adsorption using metallic nickel nanoparticles supported on mesoporous silica. Nanosize nickel particles were supported on mesoporous silica SBA-15 and KIT-6 by impregnation of nickel nitrate and subsequent reduction. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy study revealed that the maximum nickel concentration achieved was 30 wt% for both the substrates, before particle agglomeration sets. Under these conditions, the best dynamic adsorption capacity observed was 1.7 mg/g at 10 ppmw S breakthrough level with a high sulfur diesel (240 ppmw) on 30 wt% Ni/SBA-15. For a low sulfur diesel (11.7 ppmw), the corresponding result was 0.47 mg/g for the same adsorbent at 0.1 ppmw S breakthrough level, which is suitable for fuel cell applications. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.