Nanoporous (NP) PdZr alloy with controllable bimetallic ratio is successfully fabricated by a simple dealloying method. By leaching out the more reactive Al from PdZrAl precursor alloy, NP-PdZr alloy with smaller ligament size was generated, characterized by the nanoscaled interconnected network skeleton and hollow channels extending in all three dimensions. Upon voltammetric scan in acid solution, the dissolution of surface Zr atoms generates the highly active Pd-Zr surface alloy with a nearly pure Pd surface and Pd-Zr alloy core. The NP-Pd80Zr20 surface alloy exhibits markedly enhanced specific and mass activities as well as higher catalytic stability toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) compared with NP-Pd and the state of the art Pt/C catalysts. In addition, the NP-Pd80Zr20 surface alloy shows a better selectivity for ORR than methanol in the 0.1 M HClO4 and 0.1 M methanol mixed solution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations both demonstrate that the weakened Pd-O bond and improved ORR performances in turn depend on the downshifted d-band center of Pd due to the alloying Pd with Zr (20 at.%). The as made NP PdZr alloy holds prospective applications as a cathode electrocatalyst in fuel-cell-related technologies with the advantages of superior overall ORR performances, unique structure stability, and easy preparation. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.