Pd and Pd-Zn alloy were supported on various supporting materials using impregnation, co-precipitation and microemulsion methods, and their catalytic performances in oxidative methanol reforming (OMR) were investigated. Pd/ZnO exhibited much higher selectivity than either Pd/Al2O3 or Pd/ZrO2 in the OMR for hydrogen production. This was attributed to the presence of Pd-Zn alloy on the ZnO support. Elemental Pd on Al2O3 or ZrO2 promotes methanol decomposition reaction and increases CO formation. Using a microemulsion method, a highly selective Pd/ZnO can be obtained with much lower Pd loading than that in samples prepared by co-precipitation. Modification of Al2O3 with ZnO produced a ZnAl2O4 phase, which was found to be a good support for the Pd/ZnO catalyst. Highly active and selective Pd/ZnO/ZnAl2O4 catalysts for the OMR reaction, containing much lower Pd loadings have been developed by impregnation of the supports with an aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)(2) + Zn(NO3)(2). (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.