A high surface area mesoporous La 2 Sn 2 O 7 compound with a well crystallized pyrochlore structure has been successfully prepared by a simple low temperature hydrothermal IJLa 2 Sn 2 O 7 -HT) method. As a support for Pd, a catalyst with a significantly higher activity for CO oxidation has been achieved in comparison with the other two non-mesoporous pyrochlores prepared by co-precipitation IJLa 2 Sn 2 O 7 -CP) and sol-gel IJLa 2 Sn 2 O 7 -SG) methods. The CO adsorption-desorption and STEM results demonstrate that on Pd/La 2 Sn 2 O 7 -HT, the highest Pd dispersion can be achieved among all of the catalysts. Moreover, compared with Pd/La 2 Sn 2 O 7 -CP and Pd/La 2 Sn 2 O 7 -SG, more active oxygen species were formed on Pd/La 2 Sn 2 O 7 -HT. It is believed that these are the two major reasons accounting for the superior CO oxidation activity of Pd/La 2 Sn 2 O 7 -HT. Furthermore, this catalyst also shows a stable reaction performance in the presence of water vapour. In conclusion, the mesoporous La 2 Sn 2 O 7 -HT pyrochlore is an excellent support for Pd, and has the potential to be applied in some real exhaust control processes.Catal. Sci. Technol. This journal is Fig. 10 Water resistance (a) and durability test (b) of the 1% Pd/La 2 Sn 2 O 7 -HT catalyst for CO oxidation.