The mean diameter of monodispersed Pd nanoparticles could be controlled from 17 to 30 A in a one-step reaction by changing the amount of protective polymer, poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) and the kind and/or the concentration of alcohol in the solvent. Although increasing the amount of protective polymer made the size of Pd nanoparticles smaller, the particle size appeared to have a lower limit determined by the kind of alcohol. On the other hand, monodispersed Pd nanoparticles of smaller diameter were obtained in the order methanol > ethanol > 1-propanol, indicating that a faster reduction rate of [PdCl4]2- ions is an important factor to produce the smaller particles. The particle diameter showed a minimum at around 40 vol % of alcohol in solvent. Once the monodispersed Pd nanoparticles were obtained, the larger particles with a narrow size distribution could be easily synthesized by using the stepwise growth reaction. The Pd nanoparticles obtained here had fcc structures like that of bulk Pd, althoug...