Electrospun Co Nanoparticles@PVDF-HFP Nanofibers as Efficient Catalyst for Dehydrogenation of Sodium Borohydride

Ahmed Abutaleb; Ibrahim M Maafa; Nasser Zouli; Ayman Yousef; M M El-Halwany

doi:10.3390/polym15030597

Electrospun Co Nanoparticles@PVDF-HFP Nanofibers as Efficient Catalyst for Dehydrogenation of Sodium Borohydride

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Jan 24;15(3):597. doi: 10.3390/polym15030597.

Authors

Ahmed Abutaleb¹, Ibrahim M Maafa¹, Nasser Zouli¹, Ayman Yousef^{1

2}, M M El-Halwany³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Jazan University, Jazan 45142, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Mathematics and Physics Engineering, College of Engineering in Matteria, Helwan University, Cairo 11718, Egypt.
³ Department of Mathematics and Physics Engineering, College of Engineering, Mansoura University, El-Mansoura 35516, Egypt.

Abstract

Metallic Co NPs@poly(vinylidene fluoride-co- hexafluoropropylene) nanofibers (PVFH NFs) were successfully synthesized with the help of electrospinning and in situ reduction of Co²⁺ ions onto the surface of PVFH membrane. Synthesis of PVFH NFs containing 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt% of cobalt acetate tetrahydrate was achieved. Physiochemical techniques were used to confirm the formation of metallic Co@PVFH NFs. High catalytic activity of Co@PVFH NFs in the dehydrogenation sodium borohydride (SBH) was demonstrated. The formulation with 40 wt% Co proved to have the greatest performance in comparison to the others. Using 1 mmol of SBH and 100 mg of Co@PVFH NFs, 110 mL of H₂ was produced in 19 min at a temperature of 25 °C, but only 56, 73, and 89 mL were produced using 10, 20, and 30 wt% Co, respectively. With the rise of catalyst concentration and reaction temperature, the amount of hydrogen generated increased. By raising the temperature from 25 to 55 °C, the activation energy was lowered to be 35.21 kJ mol^-1 and the yield of H₂ generation was raised to 100% in only 6 min. The kinetic study demonstrated that the reaction was pseudo-first order in terms of the amount of catalyst utilized and pseudo-zero order in terms of the SBH concentration. In addition, after six cycles of hydrolysis, the catalyst showed outstanding stability. The suggested catalyst has potential applications in H₂ generation through hydrolysis of sodium borohydride due to its high catalytic activity and flexibility of recycling.

Keywords: PVFH NFs; cobalt; electrospinning; hydrogen; hydrolysis; sodium borohydride.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research & Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia for funding this research work through the project number ISP22-31.