A series of platinum and platinum ruthenium carbon supported electrocatalyst have been prepared by the microemulsion technique. The influence of parameters such as the preparation route, the metal loading and the PtRu stoichiometry on the morphology of the final nanoparticles has been studied. Irrespective the total metal loading, nanosized particles, displaying a narrow size distribution were obtained. In addition, particle size was found to be independent of the metal loading. Structural characteristics of these systems have been studied by XPS, X-ray diffraction, TEM, and TPR-TPO and their textural parameters by N-2 adsorption. The catalytic performance of the samples was evaluated in the electrochemical oxidation of methanol. The influence of the morphology on the catalytic performance of the catalysts is discussed in terms of their synthesis route. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.