High-capacity hydrogen generation from hydrazine monohydrate using a noble-metal-free Ni10Mo/Ni–Mo–O nanocatalyst

Abstract

The development of hydrazine monohydrate (N2H4·H2O) as a viable hydrogen carrier requires high-performance and cost-effective catalysts for selectively promoting its decomposition to generate hydrogen at mild conditions. Herein, we report the synthesis of a non-precious metal nanocatalyst, in both powdery and monolithic forms, using a simple hydrothermal method followed by annealing treatment under H2 atmosphere. Thus-obtained nanocomposite outperforms the reported non-precious metal catalysts in terms of the overall catalytic properties. More impressively, the system composed of the monolithic Ni10Mo/Ni–Mo–O/Ni foam catalyst, the 85 wt% N2H4·H2O solution and alkali promoter show high hydrogen generation rate, rapid dynamic response and a material-based hydrogen capacity of 6.2 wt%. For the first time, our study demonstrates that the usage of noble-metal-free monolithic catalyst enabled rapid and high-density hydrogen generation from commercial N2H4·H2O solution.