CeO2 supported multimetallic nano materials as an efficient catalyst for hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of NaBH4

Abstract

Nowadays, there is still no suitable method to store large amounts of energy. Hydrogen can be stored physically in carbon nanotubes or chemically in the form of hydride. In this study, sodium borohydride (NaBH4) was used as the source of hydrogen. However, an inexpensive and useful catalyst (Co–Cr–B/CeO2) was synthesized using the NaBH4 reduction method and its property was characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) measurements. The optimized Co–Cr–B/CeO2 catalyst exhibited an excellent hydrogen generation rate (9182 mLgmetal−1min−1) and low activation energy (35.52 kJ mol−1). The strong catalytic performance of the Co–Cr–B/CeO2 catalyst is thought to be based on the synergistic effect between multimetallic nanoparticles and the effective charge transfer interactions between the metal and the support material.