The nano ZrO2-supported copper-based catalysts for methane combustion were investigated by means of N-2 adsorption, TEM, XRD, H-2-TPR techniques and the test of methane oxidation. Two kinds of ZrO2 were used as support, one ZrO2-1 was obtained from the commercial ZrO2 and the other (ZrO2-2) was issued from the thermal decomposition of zirconium nitrate. It was found that the CuO/ZrO2-2 catalyst was more active than CuO/ZrO2-1. N2 adsorption, H2-TPR and XRD measurements showed that larger surface area, better reduction property, presence of tetragonal ZrO2 and higher dispersion of active component for CUO/ZrO2-2 than that of CuO/ZrO2-1. These factors could be the dominating reasons for its higher activity for methane combustion. (c) 2007 Wei Chu. Published by Elsevier B.V on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.