Green approaches have the potential to significantly reduce the costs and environmental impact of chemical syntheses. Here, the authors used green tea (GT) leaf extract to synthesise and anchor palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs) to silica. The synthesised PdNPs in GT extract were characterised by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. PdNPs primarily formed as capped NPs dispersed in GT extract before reduction completed after 24 h. This capped phytochemical solution was employed as a green precursor solution to synthesise PdNP-embedded solid supports. The morphology of PdNPs anchored to silica differed to that of PdNPs in solution. Silica-embedded PdNPs was employed as a new ligand exchanger to isolate trace polycyclic aromatic sulphur heterocycles from a hydrocarbon matrix. The isolation efficiency of the new, greener ligand exchanger was the same as an efficient chemical ligand exchanger and may, therefore, hold promise for future applications.