Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) supported PtSn catalysts were prepared by alcohol reduction method and characterized by XRD, FESEM and EDX. XRD results show that the addition of Sn to Pt/MCMB extends the fcc lattice parameters of platinum and the particle size of PtSn/MCMB is about 2.6 nm, smaller than that of Pt/MCMB. The electrode catalytic activity in the electro-oxidation of ethanol was studied by cyclic voltammetry, Tafel plot, electrochemistry impedance spectra (EIS) and chronoamperometry. All the results showed that PtSn/MCMB gave higher catalytic activity for ethanol electro-oxidation than Pt/C (20 wt.% E-TEK).