Highly efficient and reactivated electrocatalyst of ruthenium electrodeposited on nickel foam for hydrogen evolution from NaBH4 alkaline solution

Abstract

Cyclic life of catalyst for hydrolysis of sodium borohydride is one of the key issues, which hinder commercialization of hydrogen generation from sodium borohydride (NaBH4) solution. This paper is aimed at promoting the cyclic life of Ru/Ni foam catalysts by employing an electro-deposition method. The effect of hydrolysis parameters on hydrolysis of sodium borohydride was studied for improving the catalytic performance. It is found that the hydrogen generation rate (HGR) of the hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by Ru/Ni foam catalyst can reach as high as 23.03 L min−1 g−1 (Ru). The Ru/Ni foam catalyst shows good catalytic activity after a cycleability test of 100 cycles by rinsing with HCl, which is considered as more effective method than rinsing with water for recovering the performance of Ru/Ni foam catalyst.