a b s t r a c tThe mesoporous ␥-Fe 2 O 3 (maghemite) supported palladium catalysts (written as Pd/meso-␥-Fe 2 O 3 ) are synthesized using impregnation and one-step sol-gel methods and characterized by PXRD, BET, TEM, EDX, and XPS. The synthesized Pd/meso-␥-Fe 2 O 3 catalysts are applied in nitrobenzene hydrogenation reactions under 50 • C and 1 atm and their catalytic activities are compared with Pd/comm-Fe 2 O 3 , Pd/meso-SiO 2 , and Pd/meso-C catalysts, in order to study the effect of the catalyst support. The TOF number of a 1% Pd/meso-␥-Fe 2 O 3 -im catalyst is highest among all the synthesized catalysts, attributed to the well dispersed Pd nanoparticles on the iron oxide support of large surface area, large pore size, and an interconnected network. All the mesoporous ␥-Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticle catalysts show characteristics of superparamagnetic behavior and thus can be easily retrieved by an external magnetic field. Significant catalyst activity decay is observed with 1% Pd/meso-␥-Fe 2 O 3 -im catalyst due to Pd leaching. However, improvement in activity of the recycled catalyst is observed when the one-step sol-gel synthesis method is used.