Carbon-coated titanium dioxide (TiO2-C) has received much attention as a catalyst support in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this study, TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRs) are hydrothermally grown on carbon paper and converted into TiO2-C NRs by heat treatment at 900 degrees C under methane atmosphere. Then, platinum nanoparticles are sputtered onto the TiO2 NRs by physical vapor deposition to produce Pt -TiO2-C. The as-prepared Pt-TiO2-C exhibits high stability during accelerated durability tests. As compared with the commercial gas diffusion electrode (GDE, 34.4% decrease), a minor reduction in the electrochemically active surface area of the Pt-TiO2-C electrode after 1500 cycles (10.6% decrease) is observed. When the as-prepared electrode with ultra-low platinum content (Pt loading: 28.67 mu g cm(-2)) is employed as the cathode of a single cell, the electrode generates power that is 4.84 x that of the commercial GDE (Pt loading: 400 mu g cm(-2)). An electrode that generates power of 11.9 kW g(pt)(-1) (as the cathode) is proposed. The fabricated Pt-TiO2-C electrode can be used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.