This paper presents a novel one-step method for the preparation of palladium (Pd) nanoparticles loaded on SiO2 with a core shell structure using the sol-gel process and microfluidic methods. The reduction of Pd2+ ions at high temperatures was achieved with ethanol molecules hydrolyzed from tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) instead of the more commonly used hydrogen. The prepared microspheres possessed a highly uniform diameter near 420 mu m and a mesoporous structure, with specific surface areas above 600 m(2)/g and average pore diameters ranging from 4.23 to 5.02 nm. Pd nanoparticles with mean particle diameters of 3-5 nm were dispersed uniformly on the outer surface of the spheres and catalyst loading ranged from 0.83 to 4.91 mg/g. The prepared catalyst was used for the hydrogenation of anthraquinone. In addition, Au-SiO2 composite microspheres were successfully synthesized to demonstrate the versatility of this method.