A novel self-humidifying reinforced composite membrane for the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was developed. Pt/SiO2 catalyst particles were dispersed uniformly into the Nation resin, and then Pt-SiO2/Nafion/PTFE reinforced composite membrane was prepared using solution-cast method. Compared with the performance of the fuel cell with commercial Nafion (R) NRE-212 membrane, the cell performance with the self-humidifying composite membrane was obviously improved under both humidified and dry conditions at 80-120 degrees C. The self-humidifying composite membrane could minimize membrane conductivity loss under dry conditions due to the presence of catalyst and hydrophilic Pt/SiO2 particles. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.