Ni–Mo<sub>2</sub>C Nanocomposites as Highly Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Generation from Hydrolysis of Ammonia Borane
Yangbin Ren, Jizhuan Duan, Xianyun Liu, Linyan Bian, Yanping Fan, Baozhong Liu
Abstract
Supported non-noble metal nanomaterials have attracted much interest due to their promising application prospects in heterogeneous catalysis. γ-Al2O3-supported Ni–MoxC catalysts have been synthesized using an impregnation method, followed by the carburization at 993 K under a 5% H2/Ar flow. The synthesized NiMoxC/γ-Al2O3 catalysts are characterized and first tested in the hydrolysis of ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) at 298 K. The X-ray photoelectron spectra analysis shows that the incorporation of MoxC can enhance the dispersion of surface Ni and consequently improve the catalytic performance of NiMoxC/γ-Al2O3 in AB hydrolysis. The highest turnover frequency value of 75.1 min–1 toward the AB hydrolysis is obtained for 10Ni30MoxC/γ-Al2O3 under the investigated reaction conditions. The kinetic studies of H2 evolution at a temperature range of 293–323 K determined an activation energy (Ea) value of 33.12 kJ mol–1 over 10Ni30MoxC/γ-Al2O3. Experimental results indicate that the synergistic effect of Ni and Mo2C is contributed to the high catalytic activity of 10Ni30MoxC/γ-Al2O3. The obtained results in this work suggest that the hexagonal Mo2C can be a promising material in catalytic hydrogen generation from AB hydrolysis.