A new catalytic oxidation of CO involving an ionic process in the presence of H 2 O is proposed on a Ptcatalyst with specific promoting materials (co-catalysts). Oxidation of CO is very slow at room temperature on ordinary Pt-catalysts such as Pt/SiO 2 , Pt/Al 2 O 3 , Pt/TiO 2 , Pt/Graphite, and Pt/carbon nano-tube (CNT), and H 2 or H 2 O have no effect on the reaction. However, in the presence of specific co-catalysts, the oxidation of CO is markedly enhanced by H 2 or H 2 O, so that highly selective preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO in H 2 is attained. The role that co-catalysts play in the oxidation of The highly selective oxidation of CO in H 2 on the Pt/CNT and Pt/CNF catalysts strongly suggests efficient transport of ionic intermediates from Ni-MgO or FeO x to Pt over the hydrophobic CNT and CNF surface according to the local potential gradient. According to this mechanism, selectivity in the preferential oxidation of CO in H 2 is defined by the turnover number of a H 2 O molecule forming CO 2 during its residence time on the catalyst, which is essentially different from the selectivity based on competitive adsorption and/or reaction. The role of the H 2 O molecule is as a kind of messenger molecule or a molecular catalyst to promote the reaction on the surface expressed by the equation n(CO + 1/2O 2 ) + H 2 O / nCO 2 + H 2 O. In this mechanism, the selectivity is given by n/(n + 1). Curious phenomena previously observed in the PROX reaction of CO in H 2 on various catalysts are well explained by the mechanism including an ionic process proposed in this paper.