This study examines the electro-catalytic behaviour of Pt decorating amorphous alloys in the electro-oxidation of ethanol. Pt decorated CoSn nanoparticles on carbon (denoted as Pt-CoSn/C) are prepared using a two-stage chemical synthesis (sol-gel preparation and Steady-state replacement method). The structure of Pt-CoSn/C nanoparticles is confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Under the same quantity of platinum, the Pt-CoSn/C nanoparticles have higher activity in alcohol oxidation than the Pt/C, PtRu/C and PtSn/C nanoparticles in cyclic voltammetry tests. The structure of Pt decorating amorphous CoSn alloys notably decreases the usage of Pt and enhances its catalytic activity at the same time. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.