Excellent catalytic performance for alcohol electrooxidation by Pt nanoparticles supported on the MoO3 nanowires is achieved. The MoO3 nanowires, synthesized via a simple hydrothermal approach, have the length up to dozens of micrometers and the diameter ranged from 100 to 300 nm, respectively. Pt nanoparticles with the average diameter of 7 nm have been evenly deposited on the MoO3 nanowires by a thermal decomposition method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field effect scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have been employed for characterization of the obtained Pt/MoO3 nanocatalyst. The electrocatalytic activity of the Pt/MoO3 nanocatalyst has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Due to the multiple active sites and a mass of microchannels and micropores for reactant diffusions arising from the three-dimensional (3D) structure, the preferable catalytic performance can be acquired on the Pt/MoO3 nanocatalyst compared with that on the Pt/C catalysts. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.