Anchoring ultrafine RhNi nanoparticles on titanium carbides/manganese oxide as an efficient catalyst for hydrogen generation from hydrous hydrazine

Abstract

The development of a cost-effective catalyst with high activity and 100% selectivity for hydrogen production from hydrous hydrazine under mild conditions is desirable for fuel cell applications. In this work, a series of RhNi/MnO_x-MXene NPs are prepared using a simple one-step wet-chemical method. The synthesized RhNi/MXene catalysts are characterized by XPS, TEM, SEM and ICP-AES. The ultrafine RhNi nanoparticles of 2.8 nm size are well dispersed on the bi-support (MnO_x-MXene) surface and avoid the aggregation of RhNi nanoparticles. This unique nanocatalytic system shows an active performance toward N₂H₄·H₂O decomposition under mild conditions. The optimized Rh_0.7Ni_0.3/MnO_x-MXene NPs exhibit excellent catalytic properties, and the corresponding TOF value can reach 1101.9 h⁻¹ with 100% H₂ selectivity under mild conditions. The remarkable catalytic performance is attributed to the mild interactions of the bi-support to the NPs, which not only stabilizes the NPs to maintain good dispersion but also leaves sufficient surface active sites to facilitate the catalytic reaction.