Zirconia coating of the mesopore walls of the mesoporous silica material SBA-15 is achieved by internal hydrolysis of a zirconia precursor, which is loaded inside the mesopores, using NH3/H2O vapor at elevated temperature and subsequent calcination (see figure). High loadings of zirconia, more than 30 wt%, can be coated on the mesopore walls without any pore blocking.