Nitrogen-modified reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) was prepared by coating poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) on RGO with the aid of an anionic surfactant and a following pyrolysis. Then, N-RGO was used as a support for metal particles deposition to investigate the potential application of the obtained catalyst electrodes in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Its structural properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), which indicated that Pt nanoparticles are dispersed on the N-RGO. The exact surface composition of N-RGO was evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The chemical functional groups were further confirmed by Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectral analysis. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements revealed that Pt/N-RGO catalyst showed the higher catalytic activity and the larger value in electrochemical surface area in comparison to those of the Pt/RGO catalysts. The results confirmed that the N-RGO by PDDA modification can be used as a potential support for a fuel cell electrode application. (C) 2014 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.