Carbon materials were modified with MnOx via a novel self-limiting electroless deposition using KMnO4 as the precursor. Gold nanoparticles were loaded onto MnOx/C via deposition-precipitation. The resulting Au/MnOx/C showed higher catalytic activity in CO oxidation than Au/C, and the conversion was stable on stream. The performance of Au/MnOx/C was compared with that of Au/C, MnOx/C, MnOx/Au/C, Au/MnOx, and Au/MnOx/TiO2, and relevant characterization, applying XRD, BET, ICP-OES, SEM., TEM, and EDX, was conducted. Published by Elsevier Inc.