Complete oxidation of ethanol is a pressing need for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) owning to high energy conversion. However, it holds great challenges on account of sluggish kinetics for C-C bond cleavage and high susceptibility to CO poisoning. Herein, ternary PtPdCu nanocrsytals are synthesized and investigated for complete oxidation of ethanol. The obtained ternary PtPdCu nanodendrites (PtPdCu NDs) have a stepped surface, providing abundant active sites. Due to the structural and synergistic effects, ternary PtPdCu NDs exhibit a mass activity of 5.59 A mg(PtPd)(1) and specific activity of 15.82 mA cm(-2) towards ethanol oxidation reaction, which are 6.4 and 3.6 times larger than that of commercial Pt/C. Further studies reveal that ternary PtPdCu NDs show strong abilities of CO anti-poisoning and C-C bond cleavage, enhancing the C-1 pathway selectivity. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc.