The synthesis of stars-like PtCu nanoparticles is reported using copper (II) chloride dihydrate (CuCl2 center dot 2H2O) instead of copper(II) acetylacetonate [Cu(acac)(2)] as Cu precursor for the first time. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to characterize the stars-like PtCu nanoparticles. Both cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry results demonstrate that these stars-like PtCu nanoparticles exhibit significantly high catalytic activity toward the methanol oxidation reaction in comparison with the Pt catalyst. Furthermore, the stars-like PtCu nanoparticles supported on graphene (rGO) show about 2.3 times higher durability than the Pt/rGO catalyst in the accelerated ageing test. All results suggest the stars-like PtCu nanoparticles supported on rGO is promising for portable applications in direct methanol fuel cells and any other catalysis fields. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.