A porous catalyst structure with a high specific surface area comprising a porous substrate with a catalyst layer thereon is provided. The porous catalyst structure can be prepared by a process comprising depositing a metallic layer onto the surface of a porous, metallic substrate by electroplating, and optionally oxidizing the metallic layer into the metal oxide layer. Any conductive porous metallic substrate can be used as the substrate of the subject invention, and the metallic layer may comprise any suitable metal(s) and/or metal oxide(s) with desired catalytic function(s).