MCM-41 supported NiPCeOx nanoparticles as highly efficient non-noble metal catalyst for hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane

Abstract

Efficient and controllable hydrogen release from ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) hydrolysis is a secure and effective way to generate hydrogen on-demand. The development of high-efficiency and low-cost catalysts is of important but still remains a great challenge. Herein, uniformly dispersed NiPCeOx nanoparticles (NPs) with narrow size distribution supported on mesoporous MCM-41 were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation followed by NaBH4 reduction. Attributing to the ordered mesoporous structure of the support as well as the efficiently enhancement of electron density on the Ni active sites brought by the electron transfers, the NiPCeOx/MCM-41 catalyst exhibits exceptional catalytic performance towards AB hydrolysis with a high turnover frequency (TOF) value of 47.3 molH2(molNi·min)−1 at 298 K and a low apparent activation energy (Ea) of 35.86 kJ mol−1. Furthermore, the NiPCeOx/MCM-41 catalyst shows excellent durability with 76.5% of the initial TOF value remained after five cycles.