The effect of addition MgO to Pd/C catalyst on electrochemical oxidation for ethanol has been studied in alkaline medium. The results show that the reaction activity and the poisoning resistance for ethanol electrooxidation have been significantly improved by addition MgO into Pd/C catalysts. The catalyst with a weight ratio of Pd to MgO of 2:1 gives the best performance. The values of onset potential and peak potential on the Pd-MgO/C electrode are more negative than that on the Pd/C electrode because of synergistic effect between Pd and MgO. By adding MgO to the Pd/C, the value of onset potential negatively shifts more 80 mV and the value of peak current density is 3.4 times higher than that on the Pd/C electrode for ethanol electrooxidation. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.