The Catalytic Activity of Halloysite-Supported Ru Nanoparticles in the Methanolysis of Sodium Borohydride for Hydrogen Production

Abstract

Finding environmentally friendly new energy sources is very urgent for a sustainable and clean energy future. It is vital to reach clean energy sources such as hydrogen, which does not create a polluting by-product when burned with oxygen. In this study, for a livable clean universe, hydrogen production studies were carried out from sodium borohydride (NaBH4), which is a very good hydrogen storage material, in a methanolysis environment, over ruthenium nanoparticles (Ru (0) NPs) impregnated on halloysite (Hall) support ma-terial (Ru (0)@Hall) at room conditions. The catalytic performance of the newly synthesized Ru (0)@Hall nanocatalyst was tested in the NaBH4 methanolysis reaction for hydrogen production. It was determined that Ru (0)/Hall nanocatalyst showed excellent activity (initial turn-over frequency (TOFinitial) = 1882 h-1; 31.37 min-1) and reusability (at the end of the 5th cycle, it retained 90% of its initial activity) performance in the catalytic meth-anolysis of NaBH4. The analyzes of the Ru (0)@Hall nanocatalyst, both fresh and at the end of the 5th catalytic cycle, were made with advanced analytical methods (ICP-OES, XRD, XPS, SEM, HRTEM, TEM, TEM-EDX, BET) and the nature of the catalytic material was clarified. The results showed the homogeneous distribution of Ru (0) NPs on the Hall surface (mean size = 1.53 +/- 0.17 nm). Kinetic studies of hydrogen production from catalytic methanolysis reaction of NaBH4 were performed based on nanocatalyst [Ru (0)@Hall], substrate [NaBH4] concentrations, and temperature (298-318 K). From the kinetic data, the kinetic parameters (Ea, DH*, and DS*) were calculated and the rate equation was determined.(c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.