In this review we selectively summarize recent progress, in the development of the direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The paper is mainly focused on research of electrocatalysts and electrolyte membranes, which are the important materials in DMFC that is a power generator to convert a chemical energy to electrical energy. However, in spite of a huge amount of work on these materials, there are still many obstacles that should be overcome for commercialization of DMFC. Here, we report the approaches of combinatorial method and nanoscience for developing electrocatalsyts and electrolyte membranes. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.