Functionalized carbon is an effective material to immobilize nanoparticles for producing high efficient electrocatalysts. In this paper, phenanthroline is used to direct functionalize carbon (phen-C), and different molar ratios of PdSn (Pd:Sn = 1:1-1:3) nanoparticles are deposited subsequently. According to the electrochemical results, the Pd3Sn/phen-C catalyst has the largest electrochemically active surface area (577.2 cm(2) mg(pd)(-1)), best activity and stability among as-prepared PdxSny/phen-C, Pd/phen-C and Pd/C catalysts for glycerol oxidation. Furthermore, the durability and poisoning tolerance of Pd3Sn/phen-C are also superior to that of Pd/C. The Pd3Sn/phen-C would be a potential electrocatalyst for glycerol oxidation. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.