Carbon-supported Ag@Pt core-shell nanoparticles with different Ag/Pt ratios are successfully prepared via a facile stepwise reduction approach and used as electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The nanostructured Pt shells on the Ag core are confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Electrochemical studies reveal that such Ag@Pt core-shell catalysts possess higher electrocatalytic activities for both methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in comparison to the commercial Pt/C, which may be attributed to high utilization of Pt resulted from the formation of core-shell structure and the appropriate size of core-shell Ag@Pt particles (similar to 3.0 nm). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.