By the help of high gravity co-precipitation, with copper nitrate and zirconium oxychloride solution, using 20% sodium hydroxide as the precipitant, the Cu/ZrO2 catalyst was prepared, which was used for synthesis of iminodiacetic acid from diethanolamine via dehydrogenation. The optimal conditions were obtained by orthogonal experiments: high gravity reactor speed of 800r/min, precipitation end-point pH of 12, aging time of 5h, zirconium/copper atomic ratio of 2:1 and initial concentration of zirconium salt of 0.2mol/L. Under these optimal conditions, the catalyst precursor was roasted 5h at 500℃ and reduced 5h at 220~240℃ to obtain Cu/ZrO2 catalys. The catalyst using for the dehydrogenation effect of diethanolamine was investigated, the reaction yield of iminodiacetic acid sodium was 97.50%, selectivity can reach 98.05%. Via using repeatedly 5 times, the average reaction yield was 95.05%, and the one-way deactivation yield was 1%~2%. The results can be included that it has a relatively stable catalytic activity and long catalytic life. Compared with traditional co-precipitation method, the catalytic performance of the catalyst was better under laboratory test conditions.