PtAuCo Trimetallic Nanoalloys as Highly Efficient Catalysts toward Dehydrogenation of Ammonia Borane
Lulu Fu, Dongfeng Zhang, Zhao Yang, Ting-Wen Chen, Jin Zhai
Abstract
In this paper, we successfully achieved PtAuCo trimetallic nanoalloys with a single phase structure using a sequential digestive-reduction strategy. The as-prepared PtAuCo trimetallic nanoalloys exhibit composition-dependent catalytic performance toward catalytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (NH3BH3; AB) with the Pt76Au12Co12 nanoalloy as the optimized one. The turnover frequency (TOF) value of the Pt76Au12Co12 nanocatalyst is as high as 450 (mol H2 min–1 (mol metal)−1) at room temperature, which is higher than most of the reported noble-metal-based catalysts. Kinetic studies demonstrate that the catalytic hydrolysis of AB with Pt76Au12Co12 as the catalyst is of first-order with an activation energy as low as 18.47 kJ mol–1. On the basis of the XPS and ICP measurement, the modified electronic interaction is believed to play the key role for the optimized catalytic activity of the Pt76Au12Co12 nanoalloy.