A series of metal-supported catalysts were prepared by impregnation method for the hydrogenation of biphenyl to cyclohexylbenzene(CHB). The catalytic performance of Cu modified Ni-based catalysts(Ni-Cu/Al2O3) were investigated extensively. And the prepared catalysts were characterized byX-ray powder diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption desorption (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).It is found that: Cu particles precipitate preferentially over Ni particles on the surface of Ni-Cu/Al2O3, so that the surface Ni active sites are diluted and the corresponding Ni particles are smaller, thusthe selectivity for CHB is increased. The results show that the selectivity for CHB is reached 99.8% at 94.7% of biphenyl conversion over 50%Ni-10%Cu/Al2O3using cyclohexane as a solvent at 2.2MPa H2 pressure, 200℃for 4h. When the catalyst was reused 10 times, the conversion of biphenyl decreased slightly, while the selectivity of CHB was almost unchanged.