Pt-Ru catalysts supported on mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN), multiwall carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs), treated MWCNTs (t-MWCNTS) and Vulcan-XC were prepared using co-impregnation reduction method for the oxidation of ethanol in direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) to study the effect of support material. The MCN support was prepared using SBA-15 as template and t-MWCNTs were prepared by refluxing in HNO3 and H2SO4 mixture (1:3) using MWCNTs. XRD shows the formation of Pt-Ru bi-metallic catalyst with size ranges from 7 to 17 nm using different supports. The catalyst and its supports were characterized by physically and electrochemically. Linear sweep voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry and chrono amperometry studies of the above systems reveal that MCN supported Pt-Ru catalyst shows higher electro-catalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation compared to Pt-Ru in treated t-MWCNTs, MWCNts and Vulcan-XC supports. The performance of DEFC based on maximum power density is found to be in the order Pt-Ru/MCN > Pt-Ru/t-MWCNTs > Pt-Ru/MWCNTs > Pt-Ru/Vulcan-XC. The Pt-Ru/MCN shows highest power density of 61.1 mW cm(-2) at 100 degrees C, 1 bar pressure with catalyst loading of 2 mg cm(-2) using 2 M ethanol feed. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.