Hydrogen Production from Hydrous Hydrazine Decomposition Using Ir Catalysts: Effect of the Preparation Method and the Support

Abstract

Herein, Ir/CeO2 catalysts were prepared using the deposition–precipitation method with NaOH or urea as the precipitating agent or using sol immobilization with tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride (THPC) as the protective and reducing agent. The effect of the preparation method on Ir catalyst activity was evaluated in the liquid-phase catalytic decomposition of hydrous hydrazine to hydrogen. Ir/CeO2 prepared using sol immobilization and DP NaOH showed the best activity (1740 h−1 and 1541 h−1, respectively) and yield of hydrogen (36.6 and 38.9%). Additionally, the effect of the support was considered, using TiO2 and NiO in addition to CeO2. For this purpose, the sol immobilization of preformed nanoparticles technique was considered because it allows the same morphology of the immobilized particles to be maintained, regardless of the support. Ir deposited on NiO resulted in the most selective catalyst with a H2 yield of 83.9%, showing good stability during recycling tests. The catalysts were characterized using different techniques: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an X-ray detector (EDX) and inductively coupled plasma–mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS).