Carbon dots-confined CoP-CoO nanoheterostructure with strong interfacial synergy triggered the robust hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane

Abstract

Ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) is promising for chemical hydrogen storage; however, current systems for rapid hydrogen production are limited by the expensive noble metal catalysts required for AB hydrolysis. Here we report the design and synthesis of a highly efficient and robust non-noble-metal catalyst for the hydrolysis of AB at 298 K (TOF = 89.56 molH2 min−1 molCo−1). Experiments and density functional theory calculations were performed to explore the catalyst’s hybrid nanoparticle heterostructure and its catalytic mechanism. The catalyst comprised nitrogen-doped carbon dots confining CoO and CoP, and exhibited strong interface-induced synergistic catalysis for AB hydrolysis that effectively decreased the energy barriers for the dissociation of both AB and water molecules. The co-doping of N and P introduced numerous defects, and further regulated the reactivity of the carbon layers. The heterogeneous interface design technique presented here provides a new strategy for developing efficient and inexpensive non-noble-metal catalysts that may be applicable in other fields related to energy catalysis.