Diverse supports (ZSM-5, SBA-15, MCM-41, Al2O3 and SiO2) with various mesoporous structures were introduced to fabricate nickel-based catalysts for the CO2 methanation by incipient wetness impregnation method. Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst displayed the most active catalytic properties, followed with Ni/SBA-15, Ni/Al2O3, Ni/SiO2 and Ni/MCM-41 catalysts. The excellent catalytic property of Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst was resulted from the basic property and the synergistic effect between nickel metal and support. The reactivity of the reaction intermediate monodentate formate in Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst was more active than that of bidentate formate species as identified by in situ infrared spectroscopy. The Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst performed with excellent stability and no deactivation up to 100 h. XRD, BET and TGA/DTA characterization further indicated that Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst had excellent resistance to carbon deposition and metal sintering. What is more, the kinetics of CO2 methanation over Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst was also studied.