Atmospheric-pressure (AP) cold plasma has experienced a growing interest recently due to its simplicity and high efficiency for preparing supported metal catalysts by using the active hydrogen species generated from explosive H-2 gas. In this communication, we report an alternative AP cold plasma method for synthesizing supported Pd catalysts using Ar gas and ethanol instead of explosive H-2 gas and toxic reducing agents. The TOF value of the prepared Pd/P25 catalyst at 120 degrees C is 3.1 times of that prepared by cold plasma using H-2 gas due to the protection of the formed carbon species. AP cold plasma using ethanol as the origin of active hydrogen species is safer and more efficient than that using H-2 gas, and may also have great potentials to synthesize other supported metal catalysts. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.