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The effect of acid/base functional-groups associated with platinized-carbon electrodes on their catalytic activity toward electro-oxidation of methanol in sulfuric acid electrolyte at 60~ is studied. Platinized-carbon electrodes with small amounts of functional groups exhibit higher catalytic activity compared to those with large concentrations of acidic/basic surface functionalities. The overpotential for methanol oxidation is minimum on electrodes of platinized carbons with pHzpc values between 6 and 7. An x-ray photoelectron spectroscopic study of various platinized carbons suggests that the acid/base surface functional-groups produce ample amounts of surface Pt-oxides and a consequent decrease in activity toward methanol oxidation.