Co3O4–CuCoO2 hybrid nanoplates as a low-cost and highly active catalyst for producing hydrogen from ammonia borane

Abstract

Developing low-cost and highly active hydrolysis catalytic materials for the dehydrogenation of hydrogen-rich chemicals is a promising strategy to store and easily release hydrogen for fuel cell applications. In this study, new bimetallic hybrid nanoplates containing Co₃O₄ and CuCoO₂ were developed via a facile and low-cost approach for catalytically producing hydrogen from ammonia borane (NH₃BH₃). The as-prepared efficient Co₃O₄–CuCoO₂ material was employed as a catalyst for NH₃BH₃ hydrolysis, and it exhibited a high catalytic performance with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 65.0 mol_hydrogen mol_cat.⁻¹ min⁻¹ at room temperature. The results revealed that the hybrid Co₃O₄–CuCoO₂ catalysts exhibited much improved catalytic activity towards the hydrolysis reaction in contrast to the individual Co₃O₄ and CuCoO₂ catalysts. A kinetic study showed that the Co₃O₄–CuCoO₂ catalytic material had superior activity with an apparent activation energy (E_a) of 20.5 kJ mol⁻¹, which was found to be one of the lowest E_a for NH₃BH₃ hydrolysis ever reported in the literature. This work provides a promising approach for the synthesis of noble metal-free catalysts exhibiting high catalytic activity towards NH₃BH₃ hydrolysis.