Pd-Cu alloy membrane was prepared by electroless plating on porous stainless steel (PSS) support. Sol-gel derived ceria was introduced as the intermediate layer by a sol-dip-coating method to prevent inter-metallic diffusion and to enhance the affinity between the support and membrane. Ceria layer moderates the pore size and porosity of the support effectively to meet the needs of the alloy layer deposition. Permeation test was carried out in a high temperature range, i.e. 573-773 K with a pressure difference of 0.1 MPa. The results showed that properly prepared ceria layer was effective as the diffusion barrier in the temperature range examined, which is suitable for water-gas shift reaction. The performance of the membranes in this work is also compared with that in our previous work in which pure Pd membrane and yttrium stabilized zirconia intermediate layer were examined. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.