<p>The anode electrocatalyst for direct fuel cells are confined by achieving an optimal balance between the reduced cost, enhanced activity, and favourable durability of electrocatalyst. This work adopted a multi-dimensional optimization strategy to resolved the above challenge. A new hollow hydrothermal carbon (HTC) was developed for the first time, offering a more facile and environmentally friendly preparation process compared to conventional carrier materials. CuPt nano-alloy with enhanced electrocatalytic activity was decorated on hollow HTC nanospheres. The CuPt nano-alloy not only effectively reduced the Pt usage rate but also weakened the adsorption of reaction intermediates (such as CO_ads), thereby alleviating the rapid degradation of electrocatalytic activity. The hollow HTC structure increases the contact area between the electrocatalyst and the reactants, while simultaneously shortening the diffusion path for the reaction products. It is indicated that the C/CuPt-6%NS demonstrated a superior performance in the formic acid, formaldehyde, and methanol electrocatalytic oxidation. Compared to commercial Pt/C, C/CuPt-6%NS exhibited enhancement factors of 8.46 and 6.11 in the electrocatalytic oxidation of formic acid and formaldehyde, respectively. In the electrocatalytic methanol oxidation, the mass activity of C/CuPt-6%NS toward is 9.75 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. Moreover, after 3600&#xa0;s of continuous electrocatalytic methanol oxidation, the massic activity of C/CuPt-6%NS remained as high as 26,466 µA/mg_Pt, which was approximately 176.44 times higher than that of the commercial Pt/C. Benefiting from its superior durability and enhanced electrocatalytic oxidation activity, the C/CuPt-6%NS has been verified to be a promising electrochemical sensor material in formaldehyde and formic acid detection.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>