TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Composition: The composition further comprises early transition metal, valve metal-A, and Pt in selective amounts so that the film has a microstructure including an amorphous and/or nanocrystalline microstructure phases. Preferred Components: The film is a continuous film on a: nanoparticle support; hollow spherical nanoparticle or nanoshell support; a micron-sized metallic or non-metallic support; or a wire or wire-gauze support. The compound comprises less than 50 atomic% of Pt. The element-A is at least one valve metal element including Zr, Ti, Hf or Nb. The Pt-containing compound further comprises at least one late transition metal-B1, thus forming a Pt-B1-A alloy, where the transition metal-B1 includes at least one of Co, Ni and Fe; and at least one platinum group metal (PGM), thus forming a Pt-PGM-B1-A alloy, where the PGM element includes at least one of Pd, Ru, Rh, Re, Os and Ir. The alloy: is crystalline or nanocrystalline with a grain size of not more than 100 nm, preferably less than 10 nm; has a (111) crystallographic orientation; and is prepared by sputtering onto a support (or substrate). In the composition, the amount of element-A and the amount of Pt in the film is so that the film is electrochemically stable, with no decrease in electrochemical activity of the film, when the electrochemical activity is characterized by conducting multiple cycles of a cyclic voltammogram (CV) over a potential range of 0 to at least 1.2 Volts (vs. normal hydrogen electrode), to determine the durability of the alloy by measuring a current flowing between the film and an anode, in an electrochemical half cell, in response to a voltage applied to the film that is ramped from 0 to at least 1.2 Volts at a scan rate of at least 10 mV/second, where the voltage is ramped from the 0 to at least 1.2 Volts for at least 1000 times (over 1000 cycles), and the current is not varying by more than the measuring accuracy ( plus minus 10 microamps). The alloy is: platinum-cobalt-zirconium alloy of formula (Pt3Co)(100-y)(Zry) (where y is 0-30 atomic%); or platinum-cobalt-zirconium alloy of formula (Pt(100(-x))Co(x) (100(-y))Zry) (where x is 0-80 atomic%, and y is 0.5-60 atomic%). The film is crystalline with a grain size so that, when the film is used as the cathode catalyst in a hydrogen-air or hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell, and the measured Pt-active area from the hydrogen oxidation-reaction (HOR) of the cathode is greater than that of polycrystalline Pt, A(Pt) of 210 mu C/cm2. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.