The influence of ceria on structural and catalytic properties of TiO2-ZrO2 mixed oxide was investigated for oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of p-diethylbenzene (DEB) to p-divinylbenzene (DVB) utilizing CO2 as soft oxidant The investigated catalysts were synthesized by coprecipitation and impregnation methods involving microwave treatment Catalyst characterization was achieved using X-ray diffraction (XRD) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) BET surface area and temperature programmed desorption/oxidation (TPD/TPO) methods The XRD and TEM results revealed that the prepared samples are in nanocrystalline form with 10-20 nm size The presence of acid-base sites and their distribution was examined by NH3 and CO2 TPD measurements The ceria promoted sample exhibited more number of acid sites The TPO measurements revealed that CO2 dissociates over the reduced surface of the catalysts Among various catalysts investigated the microwave treated CeO2/TiO2-ZrO2 sample exhibited better conversion and a high product selectivity The time-on-stream studies revealed that ceria promoted TiO2-ZrO2 catalysts exhibit higher stability for ODH of DEB (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved