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Room-temperature-ionic-liquid-assisted sputtering with an alloy target is utilized to synthesize the graphene-supported AuPd alloy nanoparticles, whose Au-to-Pd ratio can be well controlled. The preparation process is one-step, free of additives and stabilizers. For direct electro-oxidation of ethanol in alkaline media, the supported AuPd alloy nanoparticles show much higher catalytic activity compared with a commercial Pd/C catalyst and the monometallic counterpart. The optimal Au-to-Pd ratio is 1:3, and the nanocatalyst of AuPd (1:3) possesses high stability and durability. After 500 cyclic voltammetry test cycles, the anodic peak current density for ethanol electro-oxidation still remains about 91% of the initial one. Furthermore, by quantitatively analyzing the relative reactivity retention, the alloy nanoparticle catalysts with graphene as the support show much higher anti-poisoning performance than the corresponding …