*2.1. Materials*

Mesoporous γ-Al2O3 (purity 99.99%, purchased from Norton Co (New York, NY, USA)), precursor of zirconium oxide (ZrOCl2·8H2O, purity >99.0%, purchased from Fluka Chemika (Washington, DC, USA)), precursors of La2O3 and Ni, respectively, (La(NO3)3·6H2O and Ni(NO3)2·6H2O purchased from Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA)), double distilled water.
