An advanced method for the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) over Pd/MCM-41 catalysts through a hydrogen-transfer was investigated. Formic acid (FA) was used instead of gaseous H-2 as the hydrogen resource. As a model H-carrier compound, FA has proven to yield less by-products and second-hand pollution during the reaction. Several factors have been studied, including: the property of catalyst supports, Pd loading and size, temperature, initial concentrations of FA and TCE (potential impact on the reaction rates of TCE degradation), and FA decomposition. The intrinsic kinetics for TCE degradation were measured, while the apparent activation energies and the reaction orders with respect to TCE and FA were calculated through power law models. On the basis of kinetics, we assumed a plausible reaction pathway for TCE degradation in which the catalytic degradation of TCE is most likely the rate-determining step for this reaction.(C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.