An ethylene glycol (EG)-based approach has been developed for the synthesis of Pt/C catalysts with uniform Pt nanoparticles. A number of characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrochemical measurements are used to characterize the as-prepared Pt catalysts. The well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles with average size of approximate 2 nm could be obtained in the EG/water mixture with volume ratio of 1/1, which display higher activity for methanol oxidation than that of the Pt/C products prepared at other EG/water volume ratios (0:1, 2:1, and 1:0). In particular, the performance of the Pt nanoparticles prepared at EG/water volume ratio of 1/1 in the membrane electrode assembly for direct methanol fuel cells has also been evaluated and benchmarked by commercial Pt/C catalysts. This study offers a vivid example to synthesize Pt nanoparticles with fine size and good catalytic activity by simply tuning the solvent ratio in colloidal chemistry methods. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.