Nano-Co embedded in porous ZIF-67 polyhedron to catalyze hydrolysis of ammonia borane

Abstract

The development of high-performance catalysts based on non-noble metal materials is of great importance for efficient and low-cost ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB in short) hydrolytic systems. Herein, for catalyzing the hydrolysis of AB under ambient conditions, we report an efficient catalyst: Nano-Cobalt (nano-Co) in the framework structure of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67). The in-situ inlaying-reduction process provides sufficient catalytic active sites by fixing nano-Co particles in the framework structure of ZIF-67, which results in a favorable catalytic activity, with turnover frequency (TOF) of 112.3 molH2∙molCo-1∙min-1. Additionally, benefited from the magnetic separation capability, up to 92% of its initial catalytic activity is retained after seven catalytic cycles.