Catalytic ruthenium dioxide films were deposited by spin-coating process on ferroelectric films mainly constituted of SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT) and Ba2NaNb5O15 (BNN) phases. After thermal treatment under air, these ferroelectric-catalytic systems were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM images showed that RuO2 film morphology depended on substrate nature. A study of CH4 conversion into CO2 and H2O was carried out using these catalytic-ferroelectric multilayers: the conversion was analyzed from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, at various temperatures. Improved catalytic properties were observed for RuO2 films deposited on BNN oxide layer. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.