This paper reports the characterization of bimetallic catalyst systems comprising cobalt and iron on CNTs support prepared via reverse microemulsion method. The properties of the bimetallic catalyst were characterized using TEM, FESEM and N2 adsorption. Based on TEM analyses, the calculated average particle sizes ranged from 4.6 nm to 5.2 nm for the various catalyst compositions. The performance of the Co-based catalyst in a Fischer-Tropsch reaction was evaluated in a fixed-bed reactor at 220°C, 1 atm and H 2/CO v/v ratio of 2:1 v/v and space velocity of 12 L/g.h. Amongst the catalysts tested, the 90Co10Fe/CNTs resulted in the highest CO conversion of 14.1 whereas the 100Co/CNTs resulted in the highest C5+ hydrocarbon selectivity. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.