Ni/La2O3 nanocatalyst with Pt and Rh content as low as 5 mol%, respectively, is successfully synthesized by a facile co-reduction method in the presence of hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride aqueous solution under ambient atmosphere. Interestingly, the resulted Ni/La2O3 catalyst with low cost exhibits excellent catalytic activity to dehydrogenation of hydrous hydrazine (N2H4 center dot H2O), producing hydrogen with 100% selectivity at room temperature (298 K), which represents a promising step toward the practical application for N2H4 center dot H2O system on fuel cells. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.