Nanotitania supported ruthenium(0) nanoparticles as active catalyst for releasing hydrogen from dimethylamine borane

Abstract

We reports the ex situ preparation of nanotitania supported ruthenium(0) nanoparticles (NPs) and their catalytic testing in dehydrogenation of dimethylamine borane (DMAB) in toluene solvent. Ru0/TiO2 NPs are prepared following a 2-step process: Ru3+ ions are first impregnated from the aqueous solution on titania nanopowder and then, reduced by aqueous solution of sodium borohydride. The prepared Ru0/TiO2 NPs are dried, bottled under inert N2 gas atmosphere, and used for characterization by XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), TEM (transmission electron microscopy), ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy) and XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy). Ru0/TiO2 NPs with various Ru loadings are tested as catalysts in hydrogen generation from DMAB and the Ru0/TiO2 (0.48% wt. Ru) with an average diameter of 6.7 ± 1.3 nm is found to have the highest initial turnover frequency value of 1700 h−1 for the release of 1.0 mol H2 per mole of DMAB at 60 °C. Results of the recyclability test indicate quite high durability of Ru0/TiO2 NPs in dehydrogenation of DMAB.