Electrospun NiPd Nanoparticles Supported on Polymer Membrane Nanofibers as an Efficient Catalyst for NaBH4 Dehydrogenation

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

doi:10.3390/polym15051083

Electrospun NiPd Nanoparticles Supported on Polymer Membrane Nanofibers as an Efficient Catalyst for NaBH₄ Dehydrogenation

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Feb 21;15(5):1083. doi: 10.3390/polym15051083.

Authors

Nasser Zouli¹, Ibrahim M Maafa¹, Ahmed Abutaleb¹, 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

Sodium borohydride (SBH) hydrolysis in the presence of cheap and efficient catalysts has been proposed as a safe and efficient method for generating clean hydrogen energy for use in portable applications. In this work, we synthesized bimetallic NiPd nanoparticles (NPs) supported on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) nanofibers (PVDF-HFP NFs) via the electrospinning approach and reported an in-situ reduction procedure of the NPs being prepared by alloying Ni and Pd with varying Pd percentages. The physicochemical characterization provided evidence for the development of a NiPd@PVDF-HFP NFs membrane. The bimetallic hybrid NF membranes exhibited higher H₂ production as compared to Ni@PVDF-HFP and Pd@PVDF-HFP counterparts. This may be due to the synergistic effect of binary components. The bimetallic Ni_1-xPd_x(x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3)@PVDF-HFP nanofiber membranes exhibit composition-dependent catalysis, in which Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP NF membranes demonstrate the best catalytic activity. The full H₂ generation volumes (118 mL) were obtained at a temperature of 298 K and times 16, 22, 34 and 42 min for 250, 200, 150, and 100 mg dosages of Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP, respectively, in the presence of 1 mmol SBH. Hydrolysis utilizing Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP was shown to be first order with respect to Ni₇₅Pd₂₅@PVDF-HFP amount and zero order with respect to the [NaBH₄] in a kinetics study. The reaction time of H₂ production was reduced as the reaction temperature increased, with 118 mL of H₂ being produced in 14, 20, 32 and 42 min at 328, 318, 308 and 298 K, respectively. The values of the three thermodynamic parameters, activation energy, enthalpy, and entropy, were determined toward being 31.43 kJ mol^-1, 28.82 kJ mol^-1, and 0.057 kJ mol^-1 K^-1, respectively. It is simple to separate and reuse the synthesized membrane, which facilitates their implementation in H₂ energy systems.

Keywords: H2; NaBH4; NiPd; electrospinning; membranes.

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 project number ISP22-4.