Ruthenium nanoparticles immobilized on surfactant-directed polypyrrole as an effective and reusable catalyst for hydrogen generation

Abstract

An effective catalyst with high activity and stability is required to produce hydrogen from the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) for the portable fuel cell applications. In this study, the synthesis of highly effective, stable and reusable polypyrrole (PPy) supported ruthenium nanoparticles (NPs) is presented. PPy powders with porous structure were prepared by the chemical oxidative polymerization, followed by the deposition of Ru NPs using the wet impregnation—reduction method. Due to the synergistic effect of Ru NPs with PPy, the as-synthesized catalyst exerts good catalytic activity, with the hydrogen release rate of 22.74 ± 0.84 L min−1 g Ru −1 and activation energy of 39.08 ± 1.69 kJ mol−1, which is lower than most of the reported activation energy values. This novel Ru/PPy catalyst is a promising candidate for small portable hydrogen generators by NaBH4 hydrolysis. Structural, morphological and textural properties of the catalysts were investigated by analytical techniques. Moreover, the effects of reaction temperature, NaOH and NaBH4 concentrations on catalytic activity were also investigated.