Graphene nanosheets (GS) are non-covalently functionalized with novel N,N-bis-(n-butylimidazolium bromide salt)-3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic acid diimide (PTCDI-ILs) via the pi-pi stacking, and then employed as the support of Pd nanoparticles. The negatively charged Pd precursors are adsorbed on positively charged imidazolium ring moiety of PTCDI-ILs wrapping GS surface via electrostatic self-assembly and then in situ reduced by NaBH4. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope images reveal that Pd nanoparticles with an average size of 2.7 nm are uniformly dispersed on GS surface. The Pd/PTCDI-ILs/GS exhibits unexpectedly high activity toward alcohol oxidation reaction, which can be attributed to the large electrochemical surface area of Pd nanoparticles. It also shows enhanced electrochemical stability due to the structural integrity of PTCDI-ILs/GS. This provides a facile approach to synthesize GS-based nanoelectrocatalysts. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.