Ni-Pt/CeO2 Loaded on Granular Activated Carbon: An Efficient Monolithic Catalyst for Controlled Hydrogen Generation from Hydrous Hydrazine

Hydrous hydrazine (N2H4 center dot H2O) is considered to be a promising hydrogen carrier. In the development of a N2H4 center dot H2O-based hydrogen generation system, monolithic catalysts are highly desirable owing to their reusability, ready controllability of reaction, and simple design of hydrogen generator. Herein, we report the synthesis of a monolithic catalyst composed of Ni-Pt/CeO2 nanoparticles and granular activated carbon using a simple impregnation-reduction method. It was found that the activity and H-2 selectivity of the resulting catalyst can be readily regulated by changing the annealing temperature and atmosphere. The optimal Ni-Pt/CeO2/GAC catalyst enabled complete and rapid decomposition of N2H4 center dot H2O to generate H-2 with a 100% selectivity at moderate temperature in the presence of 1 M NaOH. Importantly, by using this monolithic catalyst, we constituted a N2H4 center dot H2O-based HG system with a material-based hydrogen capacity as high as 6.54 wt %. This finding represents a promising step toward the development of N2H4 center dot H2O as a viable hydrogen storage carrier.