Dry reforming of methane to produce hydrogen-rich syngas is widely studied, where the productivity of the reaction is greatly dependent on the activity and stability of the catalyst. In this investigation, a binary catalyst support consisting of a SiO2-CeO2 combination was developed to produce an efficient catalyst support with high resistance to carbon deposition during the reaction. Four different preparation methods (deposition-precipitation, DP; impregnation, IMP; sol-gel, SG; and ball milling, BM) were used to synthesize SiO2-CeO2 supports, and 5 wt % nickel was added to the support via wet impregnation. The catalyst performance was recorded in the order: Ni/CS-DP ' Ni/CS-IMP ' Ni/CS-BM ' Ni/CS-SG at 800 degrees C for 10 h reaction with a CH4/CO2 feed-gas composition ratio of 1:1. Ni/CS-DP was seen to be the most promising catalyst, exhibiting H-2 and CO selectivities of similar to 95% and similar to 73%, respectively, with a H-2/CO ratio of >1:1, and maintaining 97% CH4 conversion up to 10 h of reaction with very low coke deposition. The superior catalytic performance of Ni/CS-DP was achieved as a result of the synergistic effects of high basicity and low reducibility, which was achieved via direct alteration during the preparation of the support. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.