Tungsten carbides (WC) nanoparticles on platelet type-carbon nanofibers (p-CNFs) catalysts have been synthesized for alkaline direct ethanol fuel cells (ADEFC). Physical properties of WC/CNFs samples with various WC contents are analyzed by transmission electron microscope (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and nitrogen isotherm (BET). The WC/CNFs catalysts showed an improved kinetics for the ethanol oxidation than p-CNFs did. It indicates that the significant increase in the catalytic activity for ethanol oxidation on WC/CNFs than p-CNFs did due to the synergistic structural effect between WC nanoparticles and the p-CNFs supports. WC/CNFs also showed good performances in ADEFC single cells. The maximum current density of P4W3 and P4W4 was 9.0 and 4.4 mA cm(-2), respectively. These catalysts can be used as the ethanol oxidation in direct ethanol fuel cells in alkaline media. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.