A series of ZrO2 modified Co3O4 catalysts prepared by co-precipitation method were characterized by XRD, Raman, SEM, XPS and H-2-TPR, and used in the catalytic combustion of lean methane at low temperature. XRD and Raman results demonstrate that ZrO2 Co3O4 is in the form of a Zr-Co-O solid solution. XPS result indicates that the content of ZrO2 in ZrO2 Co3O4 composite oxide has a significant influence on the concentration of Co2+ in tetrahedral site (A(Tetrahedral)/A(Octahedral)) and the surface active oxygen species, which are correlated to the activity of methane combustion. H-2-TPR result shows that the ZrO2(2)-Co3O4 composite oxide exhibits better reducibility. Compared with pure Co3O4, the ZrO2(2)-Co3O4 composite oxide presented the highest activity with T-90 of 335 degrees C. All these characterizations suggest that high activity in the lean methane combustion could be ascribed to high surface areas, A(Tetrahedral)/A(Octahedral) and surface active oxygen species. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.