Facile synthesis of NiPt–CeO2 nanocomposite as an efficient catalyst for hydrogen generation from hydrazine borane

Abstract

NiPt–CeO2 nanocomposites (NCs) have been easily prepared via a surfactant aided co-reduction route and characterized by ICP-AES, XRD, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, EDX and XPS techniques. The characterized results show that the NiPt–CeO2 NCs with an average particle size of 3 nm are in amorphous state and well-dispersed. The as-synthesized NiPt–CeO2 NCs are successfully applied as a highly efficient catalyst for rapid and high-extent dehydrogenation of hydrazine borane (Hy-B). The amorphous NiPt–CeO2 NCs obtained due to the addition of CeO2 display much better activity than that of Ni-, Pt–CeO2, and crystalline NiPt NCs. Especially, Ni0.9Pt0.1–CeO2 NCs with a low noble-metal content exhibit markedly high catalytic activity to release 5.74 equiv. (H2 + N2) per Hy-B in only 12.3 min with a high turnover frequency (TOF) value of 234 h−1 (molH2·molmetal−1·h−1). In the presence of this special amorphous state Ni0.9Pt0.1–CeO2 nanocatalyst, the hydrolysis of the group BH3 and the decomposition of the moiety N2H4 occur simultaneously and thus accelerate the rate of releasing hydrogen from Hy-B. This excellent catalytic performance is due to the synergistic effect between NiPt and CeO2 and the promotion effect of NaOH.