The effects of plating chemistry on palladium deposition, plating efficiency and membrane microstructure have been studied for two palladium electroless plating solutions, hydrazine-based and hypophosphite-based plating baths. The electroless plating kinetics of palladium onto seeded supports have been determined for hypophosphite-based plating bath, and a simple kinetic model has been developed. The model provides an accurate prediction of deposition rate and film thickness as a function of plating parameters. Most importantly, the experimental results demonstrated that plating chemistry plays a vital role on both plating performance and film microstructure.