With La, Ce, and Zr as doping additives, Ni-based catalysts were prepared using a plasma-induced micro-combustion method. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H 2 temperature-programmed reduction, H 2 temperature-programmed desorption, CO 2 temperature-programmed desorption, and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTs) were used to characterize the as-synthesized catalysts. The results illustrated that the catalysts after doping exhibited higher reducibility and a stronger interaction between the metal and support compared with SiO 2 -supported Ni catalyst without additives. The additives increased the electron density around metal Ni and oxygen vacancies of the support, which promoted the CO 2 and hydrogen adsorption. The catalysts were used in CO 2 methanation, and the 10Ni-3La/SiO 2 catalyst exhibited the highest turnover frequency of 0.517 s −1 and especially the highest CH 4 selectivity of 85% at 280 °C under a high space velocity of 120 000 mL/(gcat•h). DRIFTs analysis confirmed adding additives, especially La and Ce, could accelerate the integration of CO 2 species with dissociated H to generate formate intermediate, which facilitated methane formation.