Several octahedral Fe 3 O 4 -supported platinum catalysts were successfully synthesized via impregnation, colloid deposition and co-precipitation methods and characterized using multiple techniques. All Pt/Fe 3 O 4 catalysts demonstrated activity in low-temperature HCHO oxidation, with the catalyst prepared by the co-precipitation method (designated Pt/Fe 3 O 4 -CP-80) exhibiting relatively higher catalytic activity. The results of various characterization techniques revealed that the preparation method could influence the strength of metal-support interactions and the number of surface hydroxyl groups of the Pt/Fe 3 O 4 catalysts. It was observed that the metal-support interactions in Pt/Fe 3 O 4 catalysts affected their redox properties. The excellent performance of Pt/Fe 3 O 4 -CP-80 catalyst was mainly attributed to the presence of appropriate interaction between Pt and Fe species, which resulted in the formation of more active interface sites (i.e. Pt-O(OH) x -Fe species).