Aim to further reduce the cost of Pd-Ir for formic acid electro-oxidation (FAEO), the Cu was used to construct a ternary metallic alloy catalyst. The prepared catalysts are characterized using XRD, TGA, EDX, TEM, XPS, CO-stripping, cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. It is found that the Pd18Ir1Cu6 nanoparticles with a mean size of 3.3 nm are highly dispersed on carbon support. Componential distributions on catalyst are consistent with initial contents. Electrochemical measurements show that the PdIrCu/C catalyst exhibits the highest activity for FAEO. The mass activity of Pd18Ir1Cu6/C at 0.16 V (vs. SCE) is about 1.47, 1.62 and 2.08 times as high as that of Pd18Cu6/C, Pd18Ir1/C and Pd/C, respectively. The activity enhancement of PdIrCu/C should be attributed to the weakened CO adsorption strength and the removal of adsorbed intermediates at lower potential with the addition of Cu and Ir. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.