The construction of an acid resistant catalyst for synthesis of γ-valerolactone from levulinic acid in aque-ous media is an important but highly challenging goal.Herein,an efficient Co@NCNT-800(after 800 ℃pyrolysis)catalyst was constructed by confining Co in N-doped carbon nano-tubes(NCNT)from low cost materials by a facile strategy.Combined with the characterization results and control experiments,the in situ formed Co and Co-Ox,but not Co-Nx,proved to be the main synergistic active sites of the catalyst.It was also found that Co species are completely isolated within the bamboo-like NCNT,which could pro-tect the metal nanoparticles from agglomeration and leaching in the strong acid reaction system.The y-valerolactone yield of no less than 99.9％can be obtained under a relatively mild condition,and the cat-alytic performance has not been significantly reduced within five cycles.Therefore,this work may pave a way for the design of robust non-noble catalyst,and has potential for the production of γ-valerolactone from biomass in large-scale industries.