Two types of Pt/WC catalysts were prepared by microwave-assisted (MW) polyol method and impregnation-reduction (IR) method. These catalysts were denoted as MW-Pt/WC and IR-Pt/WC respectively. The as prepared catalysts were characterized by using the techniques of XRD and SEM. The cyclic voltammogram (CV) of the methanol oxidation showed that MW-Pt/WC catalyst has the better performance than the IR-Pt/WC catalyst for methanol oxidation in terms of the onset potential and peak current. The chronoamperometry results demonstrated that the MW-Pt/WC yielded higher electrocatalytic activity comparing with IR-Pt/WC catalyst.

Key words: microwave, tungsten carbide, methanol oxidation, chronoamperometry