Modulating the Acidic Properties of Mesoporous Mox-Ni0.8Cu0.2O Nanowires for Enhanced Catalytic Performance toward the Methanolysis of Ammonia Borane for Hydrogen Production

Yufa Feng; Xuefeng Zhang; Youxiang Shao; Xiaodong Chen; Huize Wang; Junhao Li; Ming Wu; Huafeng Dong; Quanbing Liu; Hao Li

doi:10.1021/acsami.2c06234

Modulating the Acidic Properties of Mesoporous Mo_x-Ni_0.8Cu_0.2O Nanowires for Enhanced Catalytic Performance toward the Methanolysis of Ammonia Borane for Hydrogen Production

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Jun 22;14(24):27979-27993. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c06234. Epub 2022 Jun 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Electronic Functional Materials and Devices, Huizhou University, Huizhou 516007, China.
² Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Clean Transportation Energy Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.

PMID: 35674395
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c06234

Abstract

Rational construction of inexpensive, highly efficient, and stable catalysts for ammonia borane (AB) methanolysis is in high demand but still remains a great challenge. In this work, we have successfully fabricated uniform Mo_x-Ni_0.8Cu_0.2O nanowires using a simple hydrothermal method followed by a post-calcination treatment and flexibly modulated the acidity of their surface by changing the amount of Mo introduced into Ni_0.8Cu_0.2O. The Mo_0.1-Ni_0.8Cu_0.2O catalyst displayed strong catalytic activity toward AB methanolysis with an ultrahigh turnover frequency of 46.9 mol_H₂ mol_cat.^-1 min^-1, which is even higher than some noble metal catalysts. In this work, an equation regarding the relationship between the quantity of moderated acid sites of catalysts and its corresponding activity toward AB methanolysis was first determined. A plausible mechanism for AB methanolysis catalyzed by Mo_x-Ni_0.8Cu_0.2O was proposed, and the benefits of the introduction of MoO₃ to Ni_0.8Cu_0.2O for enhancing the catalytic performance were also discussed. These findings can form a basis for the rational construction of inexpensive catalysts with robust performance toward AB methanolysis for hydrogen production.

Keywords: acid sites; ammonia borane; hydrogen evolution; methanolysis; nanowires.