Atomically thick and flexible Pt-Cu alloy nanosheets are prepared and loaded with either Pd or Pt to produce sandwich structures or nanoring-like nanosheet structures, respectively. Core-shell alloy nanoparticles containing Rh, Ir, and Ru are also prepared. All of these structures exhibit superior specific and mass activities for the oxidation of formic acid for fuel cells for portable electronic devices as compared to commercial Pd/C catalyst.