Metallic cobalt and molybdenum oxides encapsulated in B, N-doped carbon nanocomposite catalyzed hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane hydrolysis

Hydrolysis of ammonia borane (AB) is a safe, rapid and efficient catalytic method for H-2 production. Herein, we reported a hierarchical architecture consisting of B, N-doped porous carbon nano-frameworks that encapsulate metallic cobalt nanoparticles and molybdenum oxides (Co,Mo@B,N-PCNSs) to enhance H-2 production by hydrolysis of AB in the room temperature. The effects of Co content and calcination temperature in the composites on the generation of H-2 has been thoroughly investigated, and the optimum catalyst was optimized. We found that the maximum H-2 production volume was obtained in the presence of the composite with a Co loading of 30 wt% and calcined at 700 degrees C. This catalyst (activation energy of 26.6 kJ mol(-1)) is much more efficient than 3D cobalt-graphene composite catalyst (27.4 kJ mol(-1)) in Hydrogen generation, which exceeds the performance of previous reported some catalysts. Moreover, the catalyst is reusable and can be easily recycled using a hand-held magnet within 1 min. We believe that the present results provide important insights into the design and synthesis of efficient catalysts for H-2 production, which is of significant importance for practical applications.