The supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) catalysis technology was applied to continuous, gas-phase hydroformylation of ethylene. Rh-TPPTS SILP catalysts with relatively low ionic liquid loading were shown to be stable and highly activity for ethylene hydroformylation. However, the catalytic activity, BET surface area and pore morphology of the catalysts depended on the content of ionic liquid. Hence, catalysts with high ionic liquid loading content showed deactivation at high reaction temperatures, possibly caused by redistribution of ionic liquid out of the pores under these conditions. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.