Imidazolium-silica heterogeneous catalyst (SG-[(CH(2))(3)SO(3)H-HIM]HSO(4)) was prepared by immobilization of acidic ionic liquid 1-(propyl-3-sulfonate) imidazolium hydrosulfate ([(CH(2))(3)SO(3)H-HIM]HSO(4)) on silica-gel using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as silica source in this study. The properties of the samples were characterized by FT-IR, SEM and TG/DSC. The results suggested that [(CH(2))(3)SO(3)H-HIM]HSO(4) had been successfully immobilized on the surface of silica-gel and the immobilized ionic liquid catalyst SG-[(CH(2))(3)SO(3)H-HIM]HSO(4) had good thermal stability. The original smooth surface of silica-gel was covered with [(CH(2))(3)SO(3)H-HIM]HSO(4) and a rough surface of SG-[(CH(2))(3)SO(3)H-HIM]HSO(4) was formed, but the size of particles had no obvious change. Moreover, SG-[(CH(2))(3)SO(3)H-HIM]HSO(4) exhibited high catalytic activity for a series of acetalization and could be recovered easily. After reused for 10 times in the synthesis of benzaldehyde ethanediol acetal, the catalyst could still give satisfactory catalytic activity. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.