Abstract: Nickel based catalysts for oil and fat hydrogenation have been prepared by coprecipitation method.The rare earth elements，La and Ce nitrates were doped during the preparation to modify the pseudoboemite.The catalysts have been studied with palm oil hydrogenation test and were also characterized by means of BET，SEM，XRD，and Laser particle size analysis. Results showed that the catalyst activity and physical properties changed with the variation of mix ratio of La-Ce.The best catalytic activity has been gotten when the mass ratio of La to Ce was 1∶4.The specific surface area and active component dispersity of this catalyst increased，the pore volume and granularity decreased，the crystalline size and crystal habit had no change after doping the rare earth elements. 

Key words: oil and fat hydrogenation catalyst, rare earth elements, nickel