The electrochemical deposition of Pt on Au nanoparticles loaded on carbon black and coated on glassy carbon (GC) electrode and the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol on Pt-modified Au/C catalysts are investigated. Structure analysis shows a uniform distribution of the metal nanoparticles on carbon black and a partial coverage of the Au surface by the deposited Pt. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) results display that the deposition of a small amount of Pt significantly improves the activity of the Au/C catalyst for ethanol oxidation in alkaline solution in terms of oxidation potential and current density. For example, the peak on the Pt-modified Au/C catalyst with a Pt:Au atomic ratio of 1:463 shows the onset oxidation potential close to that on Pt/C catalyst but the peak current density several times higher than that on Au/C and Pt/C catalysts. In the wide range of Pt loadings the Pt-modified Au/C catalysts exhibit considerably higher activity than Au/C and Pt/C catalysts. The modification of Au/C with Pt is found to be very effective for improving the activity of the Au/C catalyst towards ethanol oxidation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.