Superior hydrogen generation from sodium borohydride hydrolysis catalyzed by the bimetallic Co-Ru/C nanocomposite

Sodium borohydride has been widely regarded as a promising hydrogen carrier owing to its greatly hydrogen storing capability (10.8 wt%), high weight density and excellent stability in alkaline solutions. Herein, we first design and synthesize a series of bimetallic M-Ru/C nanocomposites (including Fe-Ru/C, Co-Ru/C, Ni-Ru/C and Cu-Ru/C), via simply alloying of commercial Ru/C with nonprecious metal, for superior H2 evolution from the NaBH4 hydrolysis. The result exhibits that H2 generation is synergetically improved by alloying Ru/ C with Co or Ni, while it is hindered by alloying Ru/C with Fe or Cu. Indeed, Co-Ru/C presents the highest efficient catalytic activity for H2 generation, with the TOF of 117.69 mol(H2)center dot molRu-1 center dot min-1, whereas Ru/C is only 57.08 mol(H2)center dot molRu-1 center dot min-1. In addition, the TOF of Co-Ru/C reaches to 436.51 mol(H2)center dot molRu-1 center dot min-1 (96.7 L(H2)center dot gRu-1 center dot min-1) in the presence of NaOH. (c) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.