Pt is one of the most important electrode materials employed in direct methanol fuel cell, and many efforts have been directed to improving its electrocatalytic performance. In this work, Pt-TiO2 nanocomposites are successfully prepared by a sol-gel method. As revealed by TEM, Pt nanoparticles with an average size of 2.6 nm are well uniformly dispersed on porous TiO2. XRD structural characterization indicates that Pt possesses a face centered cubic crystal structure while TiO2 is in the format of both rutile and anatase phases. The electrochemical performance of as-prepared nanocomposite electrode (Pt-TiO2/ITO) is evaluated by studying the electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol in an alkaline medium with or without UV illumination. Comparative experiments evince that the electrochemical performance of Pt-TiO2/ITO for methanol electrooxidation is markedly improved under UV illumination. Under UV illumination, moreover, the poisoning resistance of Pt-TiO2/ITO for methanol electrooxidation is significantly improved, as supported by the results of time-coursed current measurements. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.