It is known that the adsorptive performance of an adsorbent is strongly dependent on the dispersion degree of active species.Great efforts have thus been devoted to dispersing active species.However,the development of a facile,reliable method to realize high dispersion of active species remains a challenge up to now.In this study,we developed a strategy to promote the dispersion of ceria by directly using as-synthesized mesoporous silica as support.The confined space between template and silica walls is highly efficient in dispersing the resultant guest oxide,and unusual ceria dispersion is realized [1].However,severe ceria aggregation occurs on the material prepared through the conventional method based on template-free mesoporous silica.This strategy was also successfully applied to disperse copper oxide [2].Interestingly,copper precursors have a significant effect on the dispersion degree of oxide,which decreases in the order of nitrate > acetate > chloride [3].The resulting Cu- and Ce-containing materials are active in adsorptive desulfurization,and the desulfurization performance well relates to the dispersion degree of oxide.The present strategy allows template removal and precursor conversion in one step,avoids the repeated calcination in conventional modification process,and saves time and energy.Our strategy may open up an avenue for the design and synthesis of new functional materials by taking advantage of confined space.