A simple method to fabricate clean Au-Pd nanoparticles on graphene oxide (Au-Pd NPs/GO) without using any reducing agent or surfactant has been developed. GO simultaneously reduced the Au and Pd precursors to form a stable suspension of the Au-Pd NPs/GO. The nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma. The Au-Pd NPs/GO exhibited catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol and for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction of chlorobenzene and phenylboronic acid in aqueous media. (C) 2013. Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.