The catalytic capability of bimetallic nanocatalysts is closely correlated with their size, shape, and crystal structures. Herein, a facile one-pot solvothermal strategy is designed to fabricate uniform spherical PdCu nanocrystals (NCs) assembled by many smaller grains. Oeylamine (OAm) is acted as the reaction solvent and reductant. KBr and hexadecylpyridinium chloride monohydrate (HDPC) are used as the capping agent and surfactant to avoid the aggregation, respectively. The architectures possess larger electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of 13.6 m(2) g(-1) than commercial Pd black (4.4 m(2) g(-1), showing the improved catalytic ability for glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) in alkaline electrolyte in contrast with Pd black. Besides, the obtained catalyst exhibits more positive onset potential (-56 mV) and Tafel slope (51 mV decade(-1)) toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media relative to commercial Pd/C, albeit with their performance bellow commercial Pt/C catalyst. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.