The specific catalytic activity of DMFC anodes based on PtRu may be improved using conducting carbon supports of high surface area and mesoporosity with pore size > 20 nm for a high accessible surface area. To this purpose we pursued the strategy of developing PtRu catalysts deposited by chemical and electrochemical route on mesoporous cryo- and xerogel carbons. Here, we report the preparation and characterization data of different mesoporous cryo- and xerogel carbons as well as we present and discuss the results of the structural and morphological study and the catalytic activity data of PtRu catalysts chemically and electrochemically prepared, also by pulse techniques, on such carbons. The results are also compared to those obtained with PtRu supported on the generally used Vulcan carbon support. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.