The active carbon supported monometallic Pt and Pt-based bimetallic catalysts (including Pt-Ni, Pt-Pd and Pt-Rh) were prepared by the impregnation-reduction method. Their catalytic activities were compared for HI decomposition in a fixed bed reactor. The fresh and used monometallic Pt and Pt-based bimetallic catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD and TEM in order to investigate their changes in surface area, structure, and morphology, respectively. The results showed that the Pt-based bimetallic catalysts had better activity and higher stability than the monometallic Pt catalyst in HI decomposition. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.