Thermocatalytic decomposition of CH4 is an interesting method for the production of hydrogen. In this article, the catalytic and structural properties of the La, Ce, Co, Fe, and Cu-promoted Ni/MgO center dot Al2O3 catalysts were investigated in the thermal decomposition of CH4. Mesoporous MgO center dot Al2O3 powder with the high BET area (>250 m(2)/g) was synthesized by a novel and simple sol gel method. The different instrumental methods (XRD, BET, SEM, H-2-TPR and TPO) were used for evaluating the physicochemical characteristics of the samples. The addition of Cu to Ni/MgO center dot Al2O3 dramatically improved the catalytic performance and the Cu-promoted catalysts exhibited the highest CH4 conversion and H-2 yields among the promoted and unpromoted catalysts. The Cu-promoted catalyst possessed the highest stability in CH4 conversion during 10 h of reaction. The results also indicated that the Ni-Cu/MgO center dot Al2O3 catalyst with 15 wt.% Cu showed the highest catalytic activity and stability at higher temperatures (>80% CH4 conversion). (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.