In this work, electrochemical impedance was used to analyze the reaction kinetics and interfacial characteristics of an anode in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). An advanced equivalent-circuit model is proposed. The new model incorporates constant phase elements (CPEs) rather than conventional capacitors in the equivalent-circuits taking into account the porous structure of the anode, particularly that in the catalyst layer and at the anode/membrane interface. It effectively simulated the electrochemical characteristics of a DMFC porous anode. The impedance model incorporates the interface factor, resulting in excellent matches between the simulation results and the experimental data in the Nyquist and the Bode plots over a wide range of frequencies. In addition, the differences among methanol electrooxidation reaction kinetics at various operating potentials are clearly observed and satisfactorily explained using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the CPE-based equivalent-circuit model. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.