Zr-pillared Montmorillonites (Zr-PILM) were prepared by the hydrothermal method with montmorillonite as raw material and zirconium oxychloride as Zr source of pillaring agent. The properties of the samples were characterized by XRD,BET, SEM, TEM, XPS. Effects of the synthesizing conditions on the structures of Zr-PILM were investigated. The results indicate that Zr-PILM retains complete layered and sheeting structure, and its BET surface area and micropore volume increases greatly. ZrO2 exists in Zr - PILM layers.The catalytic reaction result of MTO shows that Zr-PILM has high catalytic activities for MTO reaction.