Preparation of Mo-doped Co-B Amorphous Alloy and Its Catalytic Performance on Sodium Borohydride Hydrolysis for Hydrogen Production

As a metal hydride, sodium borohydride has become one of the hot spots in the field of hydrogen production due to its large hydrogen storage density, high hydrogen production purity, low reaction temperature, safe storage and transportation, and excellent energy cycle utilization. The key technology of hydrolysis of sodium borohydride to produce hydrogen lies in catalyst. In this study, a series of Mo-doped ternary Mo-Co-B amorphous alloy powders, catalysts for sodium borohydride hydrolysis for hydrogen production, were prepared by chemical reduction. The structure and properties of the Mo-Co-B alloy samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission transmission electron microscope (FETEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). Furthermore, the catalytic activity of the samples was investigated by NaBH4 hydrolysis reaction. As could be seen from the results, appropriate doping of Mo in Co-B contributed to reducing the particle size, enlarging the specific surface area and improving the catalytic activity of Co-B amorphous alloy. Whereas, excess Mo did harm to the catalytic reaction due to the increase of metal oxide in catalyst powder. The Mo-Co-B amorphous alloy exhibited optimum catalytic performance when n(Mo)/n(Co) was 0.05. Besides, the effects of reaction temperature, catalyst amount and NaBH4 concentration on hydrogen generation rate were discussed as well. © 2020, Materials Review Magazine. All right reserved.