Antimony doped tin oxide supported on carbon black (ATO/C) has been synthesized using an in situ co-precipitation method, and platinum-ATO/C nanoparticles have been prepared using a consecutive polyol process to enhance the catalyst activity for the methanol oxidation reaction. The Pt-ATO/C electrocatalyst is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). scanning electron microcopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and cyclic voltammetry. The Pt-ATO/C catalyst exhibits a relatively high activity for the methanol oxidation reaction compared to Pt-SnO(2)/C or commercial Pt/C catalyst. This activity can be attributed to the high electrical conductivities of the Sb-doped SnO(2), which induces the electronic effects with Pt catalysts. Pt-ATO/C is a promising methanol oxidation catalyst with high activity for the reaction in direct methanol fuel cells. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.