The performance of plasma-modified Pt/CeO₂ for toluene catalytic oxidation was investigated. Pt/CeO₂ nanorods were prepared by wet impregnation and were modified by thermal (PC-T), plasma (PC-P), and combined (PC-TP and PC-PT) treatments. The modified catalysts were characterized by TEM (transmission electron microscope), BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller), H₂-TPR, O₂-TPD, XPS, UV-Raman, and OSC tests. The significant variation of the surface morphologies and surface oxygen defects could have contributed to the modification of the Pt/CeO₂ catalysts via the plasma treatment. It was found that plasma could promote the surface interaction between Pt and CeO₂, resulting in the thermal stability of the catalyst. The Pt-Ce interaction was also conducive to an increase in the number of oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, PC-PT and PC-TP showed a significant difference in oxygen vacancy concentrations and catalytic activities, which illustrated that the treatment sequence (plasma and thermal treatment) affected the performance of Pt/CeO₂. The PC-PT sample showed the highest catalytic activity with T₁₀₀ at 205 °C. This work thus demonstrates that plasma in combined treatment sequences could assist surface interactions of catalysts for enhanced toluene catalytic oxidation.