The electrochemical dechlorination of para-chloronitrobenzene (p-CNB) was investigated in order to reduce the impact on environment. Based on the sponge-like structure of Ni foam and the catalytic activity of Pd, the Ni/Pd foam electrode exhibited excellent catalytic properties for dechlorination of p-CNB. Electrocatalytic dechlorination performance of Ni/Pd foam electrode for p-CNB was superior to that of other cathodes, such as Ni foam, Ti plates, graphite, and Ti/Pd cathodes. The degradation rate of p-CNB on the Ni/Pd foam electrode is highest among them, and a desirable dechlorination effect can also be obtained. Under optimized conditions of 10 mA cm(-2) current density, pH of 7 and Na2SO4 of 50 mM as electrolyte, the removal efficiency of p-CNB (25 mg L-1) is more than 99% within 30 min. The process can be described by pseudo-first-order kinetics with the rate constant of 0.147 min(-1), and the AN (aniline) formation efficiency reaches 88.2% within 30 min. In acidic condition, the AN formation efficiency increases to 98.4% within 30 min. The synergistic combination of the current density, acidic condition and lower electrolyte concentration plays an important role in tuning the favor degradation and dechlorination of p-CNB. In addition, among three possible pathways of p-CNB dechlorination proposed, the route from ammoniation to para-chloroaniline (p-CAN) by dechlorination is regarded as the main pathway.(C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.