CeO₂-NiO-Al₂O₃/Ni-foam is obtained by chemically etching Ni-foam and modifying with CeO₂.

CeO₂-NiO-Al₂O₃ nanocomposite catalyst is uniformly embedded onto the Ni-foam struts.

Such catalyst is highly active and selective with promising stability for the ODE process.

Foam-structuring endows catalyst with high heat/mass transfer and high permeability.

Fascinating C₂H₄ productivity is obtainable over the 7CeO₂-NiO-Al₂O₃/Ni-foam catalyst.