The catalytic generation by ethanol decomposition and partial oxidation over copper-chromite and copper-zinc catalyst supported on alumina has been investigated. The catalysts have been prepared by the method of combustion synthesis, characterized by a fast heating rate and a short reaction time, leading to increase catalyst porosity and total surface area. The catalytic activity and selectivity have been investigated without O-2 and under various O-2 and C2H5OH molar ratio in the temperature range up to 500 degrees C. It was found that copper chromite supported on alumina shows the best activity and hydrogen selectivity during ethanol decomposition. The selectivity decreased during partial oxidation but with a low O-2/EtOH = 0.6 molar ratio at 300 degrees C, a hydrogen rich mixture (35-40%) was obtained. The use of relatively low amount of oxygen is necessary to reduce coke formation, which causes catalyst deactivation. The catalysts were characterized by ex situ methods such as XRD, BET, XPS, and in situ EXAFS and FTIR with the aim to evaluate their physico-chemical properties and to correlate them with the catalysts performance. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.