In this work, a novel method is introduced for the production of uniformly ultra-small palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) using lanthanum oxide nanoparticles (La(2)O(3)NPs) as an adsorbing support and a promoter. Here, the Zn/HCl system is also adopted as a reducing agent. The high distribution and small-size PdNPs, decorated on clean surface of La2O3NPs, are successfully fabricated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transition electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS) are used to investigate the structure, morphology and chemical composition of the samples. Electrochemical measurements show the new catalyst with outstanding performance in terms of mass current density and stability in comparison to the commercially available Pd/C catalyst for ethanol oxidation. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.