An efficient, improved, and environmentally benign procedure for catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohols to the corresponding benzaldehdes was developed in the presence of nano-SiO 2 -supported Preyssler heteropolyacid (HPA), both in thermal conditions and under microwave irradiation. Silica nanostructures were obtained through a sol-gel method and were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and powder x-ray diffraction. Nano-SiO 2 -supported Preyssler HPA was synthesized by an impregnation method and confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. In catalytic reactions, the effects of various parameters such as catalyst loading, catalyst amount, temperature, and reaction time were studied and the optimum conditions were obtained.