The methanol electrooxidation reaction was studied on carbon dispersed Pd-nickel oxide nanocatalysts in KOH/CH(3)OH solutions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize PdNiO/C catalysts. The electrochemical behaviors for the methanol electrooxidation reaction were measured in a powder microelectrode by cyclic voltammetry and Tafel plots. The result showed that the adding NiO enhances the anti-poison ability of PdNiO/C catalyst, but the reaction mechanism does not change. The anti-poison ability of PdNiO/C catalyst can be enhanced by three ways: (1) the NiOOH on the surface of catalyst improves the activity of composite catalyst for methanol oxidation; (2) the catalytic role of NiO for methanol dehydration; (3) the promotion of large amount active species-PdO (low oxidation state) for methanol oxidation. (C) 2009 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.