The metal-support interaction of Ir/Ce0.9Pr0.1O2 catalyst is tuned by adopting different preparation techniques of deposition-precipitation (DP), co-precipitation (CP) and sequential precipitation (SP) to control the locations of Ir, improving catalytic performance in methane dry reforming reaction. Ir/Ce0.9Pr0.1O2-DP catalyst shows the highest catalytic performance and stability due to the unembedded Ir nanoparticles on catalyst surfaces, followed by Ir/Ce0.9Pr0.1O2-SP and Ir/Ce0.9Pr0.1O2-CP catalysts in which Ir species are either partially or fully embedded in Ce-Pr-O mixed oxides. Our results clearly demonstrate that the metal-support interaction plays important roles in controlling the catalyst sintering and carbonaceous deposition. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.