An effective strategy of ultrasmall and surface-clean Pd4Ir nanocrystals uniformly decorated on graphene was developed using ultrasnoic-assisted approach. The prepared Us-Pd4Ir@Graphene reduces Pd loading while holds much higher catalytic activity and better stability toward formic acid oxidation than that of commercial Pd-C, offering great promise as a superior anode catalyst for direct formic acid fuel cells. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.