Abstract <p>The current work describes the morphological effects of copper ceria catalysts and designs a new class of copper-based ceria catalysts for methanol steam reforming (MSR). The hydrothermal method was implemented to prepare the ceria supports with two different morphologies. Cu/CeO₂ catalysts have been synthesized using deposition precipitation technique. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, H₂-TPR, Field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis (BET), and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) techniques were used to characterize the catalyst samples. The study observed that structural morphology, such as rod and cube shapes of ceria, impacts the catalyst activity for methanol steam reforming (MSR). All synthesized catalysts were subjected to catalytic activity testing for a temperature range from 200 to 350&#xa0;°C. In both catalysts, zero CO selectivity was observed up to 250&#xa0;°C. XPS data revealed that rod-shaped CeO₂ has abundant surface oxygen vacancies and high surface oxygen mobility, which helps to activate and adsorb water and methanol molecules and create active copper species on the catalyst surface. The correlation between the activity data and catalyst characterization revealed the outstanding reactivity for rod-shaped catalysts.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>