RuO2/TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) and nanoparticles (NPs) composite electrodes were prepared by loading of RuO2 on TiO2 nanotubes and nanoparticles, respectively. The electrochemical reduction properties of CO2 on these two composite modified platinum electrodes have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry, steady-state polarization and electrolysis in aqueous solution, respectively. The prolonged potentiostatic electrolysis of CO2 led to the formation of methanol even under low overpotential. The current efficiency for conversion of CO2 to methanol was up to 60.5% on the RuO2/TiO2 NTs modified Pt electrode. Compared with RuO2 and RuO2/TiO2 NPs composite electrodes, RuO2/TiO2 NTs composite modified Pt electrode had the higher electrocatalytic activity for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to methanol. The results suggested that the nanotubes structure is important to get the high efficiency and selectivity for electrochemical reduction of CO2. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.