An active and stable NiO@Au/Ti-powder catalyst, which can be obtained by doping Au/Ti-powder (Au: 35-40 nm) with NiO, has been developed for the gas-phase oxidation of alcohols. Gold particles are found to be partially covered with tiny NiO segments to form specific NiO@Au ensembles thereby leading to a dramatic conversion improvement from only similar to 5% (without NiO doping) to similar to 94% for the benzyl alcohol oxidation at 280 degrees C. Additionally, the selective oxidation of cyclopropyl carbinol can proceed over this catalyst at 280 degrees C with a selectivity of 94% and a conversion of 72-80% throughout the entire 300 h test. The hybrid active-sites, Ni2O3-Au+, on the NiO@Au ensemble are identified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.