A novel Pt4ZrO2/C catalyst was prepared and compared with 20 wt.% Pt/C in terms of the sintering resistance and corrosion resistance. To evaluate their sintering resistance and corrosion resistance properties, an accelerated ageing test (AAT) was performed. The catalysts before and after AAT were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), rotating disk electrode (RDE) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). After AAT, the dissolution rate of Pt and Zr in H3PO4 media (105 wt.%, 204 degrees C) was characterized by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The electrochemical area (ECA) changes of thin film electrodes based on Pt4ZrO2/C and Pt/C catalysts were also evaluated using continuous CV sweep technique. All the results showed that Pt4ZrO2/C has higher sintering resistance and corrosion resistance than Pt/C. 'Anchor effect' is proposed to explain the enhanced effect of ZrO2 in Pt4ZrO2/C binary catalyst compared with Pt/C that contain platinum alone. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.