The excellent catalyst need to meet low cost, long-time stability and high electrocatalytic activity in direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFC). Here, carbon nanotube-supported Pd-based (Pd/CNT, PdSn/CNT, PdNi/CNT and PdSnNi/CNT) catalysts were synthesized by microwave-assisted polyols and in-situ reduction. Compared with commercial Pd/C (JM), the as-prepared Pd-based catalysts have higher electrocatalytic activity and outstanding long-time durability toward ethanol electro-oxidation reaction in alkaline media. The enhanced electrocatalytic activity of Pd-based catalysts are owning to high electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) and modified electronic structure of Pd. After chronoamperometric test, the current densities of Pd-based catalysts can be reactivated by simple cycle potential scan in 1M NaOH, which indicated that all of them have excellent resistance to CO poisoning. (c) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.