In this work, a facile one-pot wet-chemical method is developed for preparation of bimetallic platinum -gold (Pt-Au) alloyed string-bead nanochain networks, using allantoin as a structure-directing agent, without any template, surfactant, or seed. The characterization experiments are mainly performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy. The as-prepared Pt-Au nanocrystals show enhanced electrocatalytic performance toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) mainly predominated by a four-electron pathway, and display improved catalytic activity and high stability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) over commercial Pt black and Pt-Ru black. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.