Catalytic combustion of methane was conducted by using a Cu-based catalyst prepared by the plasma-assisted impregnation method.The properties of the catalysts were surveyed by X-ray diffraction (XRD),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR).The results showed that the activity of CuO/ZrO2 with the CeO2 and Y2O3 was obviously increased compared with the CuO/ZrO2 catalyst,which was examined in relation to the structure and surface characteristics and might be correlated with their surface oxygen species and redox properties.Among the investigated catalysts,the Ce-CuO/ZrO2 sample exhibited the highest activity for methane combustion.