A highly efficient synthesis approach of urea-assisted homogeneous deposition (HD) coupled with H-2 reduction has been employed to synthesize carbon-supported Pt-Ru catalyst with high metal loading of 60 wt% The urea-assisted HD method permits in situ gradual and homogeneous generation of hydroxide ions, resulting in smaller Pt-Ru nanaoparticles deposited on the carbon support along with better particle size distribution compared with the catalyst prepared by the conventional impregnation-NaBH4 reduction. The Pt-Ru catalyst prepared by the HD-H-2 method has demonstrated greatly enhanced catalytic activity towards methanol oxidation and much improved fuel cell performance compared with the one prepared by impregnation-NaBH4 reduction HD-H-2 method is simple with mild synthesis condition, but provides very efficient approach for the preparation of Pt-based catalysts for fuel cells (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved