The use of ruthenium-selenium-tungsten catalysts as methanol tolerant cathodes for direct methanol fuel cells is reported. The novel catalysts were produced by decarbonylation of ruthenium and tungsten carbonyls in the presence of selenium and carbon powders. The produced materials were characterised in both half cells and fuel cells. The addition of tungsten led to better oxygen reduction performance, giving current densities up to 30% greater and cell power densities up to 25% greater than those obtained with ruthenium- selenium alone. There is only a minor loss in methanol tolerance in the presence of tungsten. The improvement in performance is a consequence of the beneficial influence of tungsten on the structure and properties of catalysts. The effects of fuel cell operating conditions are also reported. The new catalysts were compared to Pt. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.