A kind of graphene nanosheets (GNSs) supported hollow composite of Pt and CoSn(OH)(6) electro-catalyst (H-Pt&CoSn(OH)(6)/GNSs) is prepared using cobalt metal nanoparticles as sacrificial templates. Transmission electron microscope measurements show that GNSs supported H-Pt&CoSn(OH)(6) nanospheres are coreless with a uniform particle size of 11 nm. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that the H-Pt&CoSn(OH)(6)/GNSs electro-catalyst exhibits enhanced electro-catalytic performance for methanol oxidation compared with solid Pt&CoSn(OH)(6)/GNSs, and Pt/GNSs catalysts. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.