Conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether (MTD) has known to be one of the main routes for the production of a clean bio-fuel, i.e., dimethyl ether (DME). However, efficient, selective, and stable catalyst is highly required for production of DME especially at relatively low temperature. Herein, aluminum phosphate nanocatalysts were fabricated by a co-precipitation method in the presence of triethylamine (TEA) as a surfactant. Thermal, structural, spectroscopic, morphological and texture properties of the catalysts were characterized by thermal analyses (TG–DTA), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and N2-sorption analyses. In addition, the acidity of these catalysts was evaluated by isopropyl alcohol dehydration and chemisorption of basic probes. Results of acidity and pyridine-TPD indicated that these catalysts possessed Brϕnsted acidic sites of weak and intermediate strengths. The results of catalytic activity demonstrated that aluminum phosphate nanocatalyst (AP1T1) calcined at 400 °C exhibited the best catalytic performance for methanol dehydration into DME with a conversion of 100% and a 100% selectivity at 250 °C. In addition, this catalyst (AP1T1) exhibits a unique behavior where its catalytic performance only decreases by 10% upon increasing the % of methanol in the reacting feed to 35%. Moreover, it possessed excellent long-term stability with almost the same efficiency after a period of 120 h. The observable catalytic activity of these catalysts was well linked to the catalyst acidity and the activation energy.Graphic Abstract: