In this work, a series of acidic montmorillonite/cordierite monolithic catalysts were prepared by a coating method using silica sol as the binder. The morphology and structure of the acidic montmorillonite/cordierite samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), N-2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The cleavage of cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) in a conventional fixed-bed reactor was chosen as a model reaction to evaluate the catalytic activity of the monolithic catalysts. The influences of acidic montmorillonite loading, reaction temperature, CHP concentration, and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) on the catalytic activity and selectivity of phenol were studied. The results indicated that the obtained acidic montmorillonite/cordierite monolithic catalysts were firm and compact, and the loading of acidic montmorillonite was found to reach 40% (by mass) after three coating operations. The surface area of acidic montmorillonite/cordierite catalysts increases greatly as acidic montmorillonite loading increases due to higher surface area of acidic montmorillonite. Under the optimal reaction conditions (acidic montmorillonite loading of 32.5% (by mass), temperature of 80 degrees C, a mass ratio of CHP to acetone of 1:3, and WHSV of CHP of 90 h(-1)), the conversion of CHP can reach 100%, and the selectivity of phenol is up to 99.8%. (C) 2014 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.