Rare earth (RE) resources are in big amount in China, which can be effectively purified based on the strategies developed by Prof. Guangxian Xu et al. last century, which sets up solid fundamentals for applied research on rare earth materials nowadays. Rare earth elements, including scandium, yttrium and lanthanides, feature stable overall chemical properties, variable valence states and coordination form as well as special Lewis acidity due to the unique electron configuration in the outermost and secondary outer orbitals of the lanthanide elements ([Xe] 4f n-15 d 0~16 s 2 (n=1~15)), especially on their 4f electron shell structure, having been extensively used in catalysis. However, the efficiency and selectivity to the desired products are always the major challenges due to the complexity of catalysis, in particular, the mechanism by which rare earth metals affect catalytic reactions through structural or electronic effects has not been clarified. Therefore, this mini-review summarizes the research progress on the application of rare earth materials in heterogeneous catalysis (specifically on thermal catalysis). Firstly, a brief summary of rare earth materials' structural properties is provided with emphasis on the unique distribution of the 4f electron. Afterward, the application of RE elements in thermal catalysis was discussed in detail. For example: (1) as a support to promote catalytic reaction, such as CeO 2 , which has variable chemical valence and can be used as an active support to participate in the redox reaction; (2) as moderate Lewis acid (base) center to catalyze the aldol condensation of acetaldehyde/ethanol mixture and effectively control the C-C bond coupling; (3) as electronic and structural promoters to improve catalytic activity and stability. Hence, the structure-function relationship is illustrated in accordance with the studies of the rare earth materials as the supports, Lewis acid (base) active center and catalytic promoters, suggesting great potential of rare earth materials in catalysis.