A series CuO/ZnO/CeO2/Al2O3 nanocatalysts were synthesized by the urea-nitrates combustion method for production of hydrogen through the steam reforming of methanol process. The fabricated nanocatalysts were characterized by XRD, FESEM, PSD, EDX, TEM, BET and FTIR techniques. XRD and EDX analyses illustrated that the nanocatalysts were synthesized properly while CuO and ZnO particles had uniformly been dispersed. The crystallinity of CuO and ZnO crystallites were decreased slightly by increasing of CeO2 loadings. On the other hand, their surface area was not affected by cerium oxide loadings. The nanocatalysts particle size was distributed in the range of 11.9-54.2 nm and more than 95% of particles were below 40 nm. The catalytic performance experiments showed the sample containing 10% of CeO2 had higher methanol conversion and H-2 selectivity due to its better physicochemical properties. Furthermore, a reaction mechanism is developed to address the major routes for hydrogen production. (C) 2016 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V.