An alumina (Al2O3) nanofibre supported nickel (Ni) catalyst has been successfully synthesized using electrospinning technique and systematically characterized by inductively coupled plasma (ICP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N-2 sorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution-transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), temperature programmed oxidation (O-2-TPO) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. In the electrospinning synthesized Ni/Al2O3 catalyst, metallic Ni nanoparticles were highly dispersed over Al2O3 nanofibres with an average particle size of 3.4 nm. Compared with the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst conventionally prepared by the incipient impregnation method using commercial Al2O3 powder as the support, the electrospun Ni/Al2O3 catalyst exhibited improved metal dispersion, leading to higher activity and superior coke resistance in carbon dioxide (CO2) reforming of methane. The present work demonstrates that electrospinning is a simple and efficient technique for the fabrication of supported catalysts with improved metal dispersion and enhanced catalytic performance. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.