Issue 41, 2019

Discovery of a self-healing catalyst for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane

Abstract

Sustainable catalysts based on earth-abundant elements are considered as economical alternatives to precious-metal-bearing catalysts and could be impactful for many applications. Self-healing sustainable catalysts, which in addition to their ‘green’ characteristic can spontaneously repair themselves without the need of applying heat, pressure or electrochemical bias, are particularly desirable for numerous large-scale chemical processes. Herein, we present the discovery of such a catalyst, named SION-X, for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (AB, NH3BH3). SION-X, with the chemical formula of CuII2[(BO)(OH)2](OH)3, is the synthetic form of the mineral Jacquesdietrichite and, following in situ reduction, catalyzes the release of almost all 3 equivalents of hydrogen (H2) from 1 equivalent of AB. During the reaction, the CuII ions in SION-X are reduced to Cu0 nanoparticles, and after the reaction, following exposure to air, they are oxidized re-forming SION-X. As a consequence, the catalytic activity of SION-X toward the production of H2 from AB remains unchanged over many cycles. The self-healing catalysis of SION-X in the absence of any extra energy input gives a new perspective in heterogeneous catalysis for energy-related applications.

Graphical abstract: Discovery of a self-healing catalyst for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Feb 2019
Accepted
28 Mar 2019
First published
28 Mar 2019

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019,7, 23830-23837

Discovery of a self-healing catalyst for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane

F. P. Kinik, T. N. Nguyen, E. Oveisi, B. Valizadeh, F. M. Ebrahim, A. Gładysiak, M. Mensi and K. C. Stylianou, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019, 7, 23830 DOI: 10.1039/C9TA02123J

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