Abstract
The catalytic hydrolysis of ammonia borane (AB) is a promising route to produce hydrogen for mobile hydrogen‒oxygen fuel cells. In this study, we have successfully synthesized a variety of Ni0.5Cu0.5Co2O4 nanocomposites with different morphology, including nanoplatelets, nanoparticles, and urchin-like microspheres. The catalytic performance of those Ni0.5Cu0.5Co2O4 composites in AB hydrolysis is investigated. The Ni0.5Cu0.5Co2O4 nanoplatelets show the best catalytic performance despite having the smallest specific surface area, with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 80.2 molhydrogen·min−1·mol−1cat. The results reveal that, in contrast to the Ni0.5Cu0.5Co2O4 nanoparticles and microspheres, the Ni0.5Cu0.5Co2O4 nanoplatelets are more readily reduced, leading to the fast formation of active species for AB hydrolysis. These findings provide some insight into the design of high-performance oxide-based catalysts for AB hydrolysis. Considering their low cost and high catalytic activity, Ni0.5Cu0.5Co2O4 nanoplatelets are a strong candidate catalyst for the production of hydrogen through AB hydrolysis in practical applications.
Highlights
With the ever-increasing consumption of fossil fuels, many global environmental issues have emerged, such as global warming, acid rain, severe smog, etc. [1]
In our previous studies on ammonia borane (AB) hydrolysis catalyzed by oxide-based catalysts catalysts [35,36], we found that the corresponding alloy on the surface of the catalyst, which is generated
Based on the above analysis, the kinetic equation for AB hydrolysis catalyzed by Ni0.5 Cu0.5 Co2 O4 nanoplatelets can be deduced from the concentration of the catalyst and AB as follows: r=−
Summary
With the ever-increasing consumption of fossil fuels, many global environmental issues have emerged, such as global warming, acid rain, severe smog, etc. [1]. The heterogeneous catalysts for AB hydrolysis include noble-metal-based catalysts, such as Pt [11], Pd [12], Ru [13], PtNi [6], PtCu [14], PdNi [15], and low-cost metal-based catalysts, including Ni [16], Co [17], Cu [18], CoNi [19] and CoCu alloys [20] The former manifest superior catalytic activity, their industrial-scale application is restricted by the high cost. 70.0 molhydrogen ·molcat −1 ·min−1 [23] These successful examples have demonstrated that the catalytic activity in AB hydrolysis can be remarkably improved by joining different oxide components together into composites. It is still unclear what role each component plays and why there is a synergistic effect between the different components. Their catalytic activity in AB hydrolysis at room temperature was investigated
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