The physicochemical features of phosphorus-modified ZSM-5 zeolites (SiO2/Al2O3 molar ratio is 25) were characterized by XRD(X-ray diffraction), BET(Brunauer, Emmett and Teller specific surface area measurement), NH3-TPD(ammonia temperature-programmed desorption) and MASNMR(magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance), and the performance on catalytic pyrolysis to produce ethylene was investigated with a light hydrocarbon fixed bed micro-reactor with n-octane as feed. The results show that the acid site density, acid intensity and hydrothermal stability of ZSM-5 zeolite were improved by phosphorus modification. When P2O5 content in ZSM-5 zeolite is higher than 2.5%, phosphorus modification can prevent ZSM-5 zeolite crystal structure transformation from orthorhombic to monoclinic. In addition, the dealumination of ZSM-5 zeolite framework was moderated by phosphorus modification under high temperature hydrothermal treatment. The results of n-octane pyrolysis on phosphorus-modified ZSM-5 zeolites show that ethylene yields of zeolites with different phosphorus content are almost the same under the same n-octane conversion. However, the modified zeolites with higher pyrolysis activity give lower yield of propene, butene and total olefin than lower pyrolysis activity under the same n-octane conversion.