Copper-doped manganese oxide nanorod catalysts with various Cu/Mn molar ratios have been prepared for catalytic combustion of Volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The effects of Cu/Mn ratio and calcination temperatures on catalytic performance were investigated. It turned out that the Cu1Mn1-500 sample exhibited the best catalytic combustion performance, to remove toluene at a temperature of 214 degrees C over 120 h without a significant decrease in toluene conversion. XRD, SEM, HRTEM, XPS were carried out to explore the physicochemical properties of catalysts, and the results demonstrated that doping copper into manganese oxides can contribute to rich oxygen vacancies, high redox capability, and hence increase the catalytic activity. In addition, both the large surface area and high crystallization of the obtained nanorod catalysts are also helpful for the high activity and stability of these copper-manganese mixed metal oxide catalysts. Furthermore, the presence of water vapor had little inhibition effect on the catalytic activity under the reaction condition.