Preparation of the plate-type catalyst is important in constructing a wall reactor system that has an effective exchange of heat energy and a quick load response. In the preparation of the plate-type catalyst by electroless plating consisting of the displacement of aluminum by zinc and the deposition of nickel by chemical reduction, this study identified the effect of different plating conditions on the catalytic properties of the prepared plate-type catalysts, for preparing a suitable plate-type catalyst for decomposition of methanol. Using an alkaline bath in chemical reduction plating or immersing the prepared catalyst in an alkaline solution after plating improved the activity of decomposing methanol but decreased the selectivity of products. The results show that preparing conditions had significant effects on catalytic properties of plate-type catalyst. Furthermore, in preparing a catalyst with high decomposition performance that was prepared using an alkaline zinc plating bath and a neutral nickel plating bath, an experiment was performed to examine in detail the effect of zinc plating conditions, such as a bath temperature and an added amount of sodium hydroxide, on the decomposition property of the catalyst. The results show that the catalyst had the greatest decomposition performance when it was prepared at a bath temperature of 293 K and with an addition of 90 g.l(-1) of sodium hydroxide.