BACKGROUND Bacterial cells can biosynthesize palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) and utilize thosein situassembled nanoparticles for synergistic bio-abiotic catalysis, which is promising for pollutant remediation. However, such synergistic catalysis is restricted due to the low cell viability and inefficient palladium immobilization. RESULTS In this study, conductive and two-dimensional reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was explored for nanocoating ofShewanella oneidensiscells and the construction of a self-assembledShewanella@rGO bionanohybrid. Impressively, afterin situbiosynthesis of Pd NPs on theShewanella@rGO bionanohybrid, aShewanella@rGO@Pd bionanohybrid was assembled, which showed about 10 times higher cell viability and 2.4 times more immobilized palladium content than the bionanohybrid without rGO. More importantly, the improved cell viability and enhanced Pd immobilization synergistically promoted Cr(VI) removal using theShewanella@rGO@Pd bionanohybrid, which was 10 times that of native cells and five times that of the bionanohybrid without rGO. CONCLUSIONS This work provides a promising strategy for biosynthesis andin situassembly of Pd NPs with living bacterial cells, which is promising for synergistic bio-abiotic removal of Cr(VI) and should extend the application of Pd NPs in pollutant remediation. (c) 2020 Society of Chemical Industry