A series of ceria modified CuO/gamma-Al2O3(CuO-CeO2/gamma-Al2O3) catalysts were prepared via stepwise impregnation (CuCeAl-SI) and co-impregnation (CuCeAl-CI) method and tested in the model reaction of NO reduction by CO. It was found that the influence of impregnation modes on the catalytic properties of CuCeAl samples mainly lies on the control of ceria particle sizes and modulation of the distribution of various copper species. In both impregnation modes, ceria was mainly spread on gamma-Al2O3 as small particles while copper species were highly dispersed. A quantitative estimation of copper species was tentatively provided via a combined surface acid leaching experiment and H-2-TPR characterization for the first time. The results showed that for CuCeAl-CI catalyst, about 55% and 25% copper species were dispersed on gamma-Al2O3 and nanosized ceria, respectively, while about 20% was migrated into ceria lattice during the calcination process. In contrast, in CuCeAl-SI sample, the corresponding values changed to about 25%, 70% and 5%, respectively. The synergistic effect between copper species and ceria can promote the improvement of catalytic performance, which results in higher activity of CuCeAl-SI than that of CuCeAl-CI catalyst. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.