One-pot co-reduction synthesis of orange-like Pd@Co@P nanoparticles supported on rGO for catalytic hydrolysis of ammonia borane

Abstract

Transition metal phosphide based orange-like Pd@Co@P nanoparticles supported on reduced graphene oxide (Pd@Co@P/rGO) have been synthesized by a one-pot co-reduction at room temperature using methylamine borane (MeAB) as the reducing agent. The prepared Pd@Co@P/rGO nanoparticles were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and confocal Raman microscopy (Raman). Compared with Pd/rGO and Pd@Co/rGO, the Pd@Co@P/rGO catalyst has higher catalytic activity for the hydrolytic production of ammonia borane (AB) with the turnover frequency value (TOF) of 127.57 min−1 and the activation energy of 39.05 kJ mol−1. This excellent catalytic performance may be caused by the orange-like structure and good dispersion of Pd@Co@P/rGO nanoparticles, and the synergistic electron interactions between palladium, cobalt, and phosphorus.