High-Efficiency Hydrogen Production From Hydrazine Borane Using Cu/Mil-53(al) Nanocatalysts: Synthesis, Characterization, and Performance Evaluation Nanocatalysts Supported on Mil-53(al)

Abstract

This work highlights the novelty of investigating hydrogen production from hydrazine borane (HB) using copper (Cu). This first-row transition metal is abundant yet underexplored as a catalyst compared to precious metals. We focus on The synthesis of Cu nanoparticles supported on MIL-53(Al) (Cu/MIL-53(Al)) through an impregnation-reduction method and evaluate their performance in HB hydrolysis. Advanced characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and TEM-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX), reveal an average Cu nanoparticle size of 3.94 +/- 0.32 nm. Notably, the turnover frequency (TOF) for hydrogen production with Cu/MIL-53(Al) at 298 K was 966 h(-)(1) (16.1 min(-)(1)), representing the highest TOF reported for Cu-based systems in HB hydrolysis. Furthermore, we calculated the activation energy (Ea#), activation enthalpy (Delta H#), and activation entropy (Delta S#) for the Cu/MIL-53(Al) catalyst as 83.77 kJ mol(-)(1), 81.15 kJ mol(-)(1), and 48.56 J mol(-)(1) K--(1), respectively, using the Arrhenius and Eyring-Polanyi equations. These findings underscore the potential of Cu/MIL-53(Al) as an efficient and cost-effective catalyst for hydrogen production, significantly advancing sustainable hydrogen energy technologies.