Cu0.4Co0.6MoO4 Nanorods Supported on Graphitic Carbon Nitride as a Highly Active Catalyst for the Hydrolytic Dehydrogenation of Ammonia Borane

Junhao Li,Fangyuan Li,Quanbing Liu,Jinyun Liao,Hao Li

doi:10.3390/catal9090714

Abstract

As a typical chemical hydride, ammonia borane (AB) has received extensive attention because of its safety and high hydrogen storage capacity. The aim of this work was to develop a cost-efficient and highly reactive catalyst for hydrolyzing AB. Herein, we synthesized a series of CuxCo1–xMoO4 dispersed on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) to dehydrogenate AB. Among those CuxCo1–xMoO4/g-C3N4 catalysts, Cu0.4Co0.6MoO4/g-C3N4 exhibited the highest site time yield (STY) value of 75.7 m o l H 2 m o l c a t − 1 m i n − 1 with a low activation energy of 14.46 kJ mol−1. The STY value for Cu0.4Co0.6MoO4/g-C3N4 was about 4.3 times as high as that for the unsupported Cu0.4Co0.6MoO4, indicating that the g-C3N4 support plays a crucial role in improving the catalytic activity. Considering its low cost and high catalytic activity, our Cu0.4Co0.6MoO4/g-C3N4 catalyst is a strong candidate for AB hydrolysis for hydrogen production in practical applications.

Highlights

With the rapid development of social economy and technology, the consumption of fossil fuels keeps growing, leading to the destruction of the environment and ecology [1,2]
No other peaks of impurities can be observed in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, indicating that the composites mainly contain C3N4, CoMoO4, and CuMoO4
We synthesized a series of Cux Co1–x MoO4 /g-C3 N4 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1) and unsupported Cu0.4 Co0.6 MoO4 for the hydrolysis of ammonia borane

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid development of social economy and technology, the consumption of fossil fuels keeps growing, leading to the destruction of the environment and ecology [1,2]. Hydrogen energy, generating H2 O after reaction, can effectively solve the contradiction in the current energy structure between developing need and the environment [3]. To realize the vision of hydrogen power popularization, problems of hydrogen storage and acquisition must be overcome [4]. One of the most popular approaches, is the process by which hydrogen is trapped in a liquid or solid and can be extracted in due course. When appropriate catalysts are used, the activation energy of the reaction is reduced, and the AB produces a large amount of hydrogen under mild conditions according to the following reaction [9,10]: NH3 BH3 + 2H2 O → NH4 BO2 + 3H2

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