The sol-gel method was applied to the synthesis of Zr, Ti, Mo, W, and V modified NiO based catalysts for the ethane oxidative dehydrogenation reaction. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption, SEM and TPR techniques. The results showed that the doping metals could be highly dispersed into NiO domains without the formation of large amount of other bulk metal oxide. The modified NiO materials have small particle size, larger surface area, and higher reduction temperature in contrast to pure NiO. The introduction of group IV, V and VI transition metals into NiO decreases the catalytic activity in ethane ODH. However, the ethylene selectivity is enhanced with the highest level for the Ni-W-O and Ni-Ti-O catalysts. As a result, these two catalysts show improved efficiency of ethylene production in the ethane ODH reaction. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.