In this paper, an anionic surfactant, i.e. sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was employed for preparation of the IrO2-Ta2O5/SnO2-Sb-MnO2/Ti electrodes through the pyrolysis process. The microstructure and phase composition of the electrodes were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the cyclic voltammetry (CV) and polarization curves were also measured to evaluate their electro-catalytic activity by using an electrochemical station (type CS310). The obtained results revealed that the employment of the SDS could effectively improve the microstructure as well as enhance the electro-catalytic ability of the electrodes. Under the conditions of this study, the optimum dosage of SDS was 1.6 g/L for preparation of the IrO2-Ta2O5/SnO2-Sb-MnO2/Ti electrodes and the crystallization degree as high as 99.83% could be obtained. The electrode performances and stability were further investigated by anodic oxidation of phenol and accelerated life test. The experimental data depicted the phenol and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency were increased from 68.5% and 60.1% to 79.2% and 67.5% when electrodes without and with dosage of 1.6 g/L were used, respectively, for phenol degradation at conditions of current density of 15 mA/cm2 and reaction time of 180 min; moreover, the accelerated life were raised to 68 h, which is much longer than that of the former (52 h).