The facile preparation of structured catalysts featuring highly-dispersed non-precious metal (Fe, Ni, Co) oxide nanoparticles stabilized within a super-microporous network of activated carbon fibres (ACF) is described. The catalyst morphology was controlled over multiple levels from the nano-designed active phase up to the macro-structure of the ACF support. A range of physicochemical techniques was used to characterize the catalyst and rationalize the catalytic data during chemoselective transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes. The challenging reduction of m-nitrostyrene containing an easily reducible vinyl-group was obtained under mild conditions with a near-quantitative yield of m-vinylaniline using hydrazine hydrate as the reducing agent over CoOx/ACF as a structured catalyst. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.