The catalytic activity of Pd-CeO 2 /C and nonsupported Pd-CeO 2 electrocatalysts for the formic acid (FAOR) and glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) is evaluated in this work. The materials have been synthesized by pyrolysis in H 2 atmosphere at 300 and 600°C, with a nominal Pd:CeO 2 ratio of 1:1. X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates polycrystalline materials with particles sizes ranging from 11 to 14 nm (Pd) and 26 to 48 nm (CeO 2 ). Electrocatalytic measurements show a positive effect of dispersing the catalysts on Vulcan in the case of the FAOR, in terms of potential-current density profile and onset potential. While unsupported Pd-CeO 2 nanoparticles behave poorly, the Pd-CeO 2 /C anodes show a very high performance towards the FAOR. Particularly, Pd-CeO 2 /C obtained at 600°C shows a significantly high catalytic activity, with a higher mass current density than a comparable Pd/C electrocatalyst. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis undoubtedly demonstrates that the carbon support has an important effect on the oxidation states of Pd and CeO 2 , which in turns influences positively the catalytic behavior of Pd-CeO 2 /C catalysts. Furthermore, both supported and unsupported Pt-CeO 2 materials have shown no catalytic activity for the GOR. The results indicate that Pd-CeO 2 /C electrocatalysts can be considered as excellent candidate anodes for direct formic acid fuel cells.