The surface properties of supported Co catalysts for different metal loading and support materials have been studied using Infrared Spectroscopy（IR）, Temperature-Programmed Reduction(TPR), and Temperature-Programmed Desorption(TPD). Supported Co catalysts are more difficult to reduce than unsupported CoO powder, and the activation energy of reduction increases with reduced metal loading. This is because the highly dispersed, small metal particles interact strongly with the support material. The metal-support interaction varies with different support materials providing different activation energies of reduction and CO desorption properties. A strong compensation effect is observed for the catalyst reduction process.