Unsupported Ni-Pt metal catalyst with Ni/Pt molar ratio of 88/12 is prepared by water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion method in this study. Compared to monometallic Ni and Pt catalysts, the Ni-Pt catalyst exhibits superior activity and stability for methane cracking. By XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and TEM (Transmission electron microscopy) analyses, the formation of Ni-(0) Pt-(0) alloy is believed to be the main reason for the reactivity improvement of this catalyst. Carbon nano tube (CNT) with Ni-(0) Pt-(0) particles anchored on the top of tube are found for the Ni-Pt catalyst. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.