Methanol oxidation electrocatalyst is the key to the performance, life and cost of direct methanol fuel cells(DMFCs). In order to obtain DMFCs with high power density and low production cost, the design and synthesis of anode catalysts with controllable composition, structure and morphology have attracted much attention. The particle size, particle size distribution, morphology, stability, dispersion and catalytic activity of anode catalyst are closely related to the support. And carbon-based support materials are wide-ly used in DMFCs because of their excellent properties. This paper introduces the mechanism of methanol oxidation reaction in acidic and alkaline environments, and then reviews the application of different forms of carbon materials, such as carbon black, mesoporous carbon, carbon nanomaterials, graphene, ox-ygen-functionalized carbon, heteroatom-doped carbon, and metal oxide-modified carbon as catalyst sup-port in the field of DMFCs. Finally, the Development trend of direct methanol fuel cells is prospected.