Electrospun nickel nanoparticles@poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) nanofibers as effective and reusable catalyst for H2 generation from sodium borohydride

Nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs) supported on Poly(vinylidene fluoride-cohexafluoropropylene) nanofibers (PVDF-HFP NFs) were successfully synthesized through electrospinning and in-situ reduction of Ni2+ salts into the surface of PVDF-HFP NFs to form metallic Ni NPs@PVDF-HFP NFs. Different percentages of nickel acetate tetrahydrate (NiAc) (10 %, 20 %, 30 %, 40 % wt.) based PVDF-HFP. The formation of tiny metallic Ni NPs @PVDF-HFP membrane NFs was demonstrated using standard physiochemical techniques. Nanofibers membranes have demonstrated good catalytic activity in H2 production from sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The sample composed of 40 %wt Ni showed the highest catalytic activity compared to the other formulations. Whereas 103 mL of H2, from the hydrolysis of 1.34 mmol NaBH4, was produced using 40 wt% NiAc compared to 68 mL, 81 mL, and 93 mL for 10 wt%, 20 wt%, and 30 wt% NiAc, respectively, in 60 min at 25 degrees C. The hydrogen generation has been enhanced with an increase in the Nanofibers membrane amount and reaction temperature. The latter results in a low activation energy (23.52 kJ mol-1). The kinetics study revealed that the reaction was pseudo-first-order in sodium borohydride concentration and catalyst amount. Furthermore, the catalyst exhibits satisfactory stability in the hydrolysis process for ten cycles. Because of its easy recyclability, the introduced catalyst has a wide range of potential applications in the generation of H2 from sodium borohydride hydrolysis. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).