Preparation of Co–Cu‐Doped Fe ₃ O ₄ @C Magnetic Material and Its Catalytic Performance in Hydrogen Generation via Hydrolysis of NaBH ₄

Sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) is a promising hydrogen storage material, and the development of low‐cost and high‐efficiency catalysts is critical. In this work, a magnetic Co 2 –Cu 1 /Fe 3 O 4 @C composite catalyst was successfully prepared via an in situ chemical reduction method, using carbon‐coated Fe 3 O 4 (Fe 3 O 4 @C) as the support. The results show that the Co 2 –Cu 1 /Fe 3 O 4 @C catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity and recyclability for NaBH 4 hydrolysis. At 303 K, the hydrogen generation rate of the reaction reaches 1099.3 mL g −1 min −1 , with a turnover frequency value of 16.4. After 8 consecutive catalytic cycles, the catalyst still retains excess 80% of initial catalytic activity. Kinetic studies reveal that the activation energy of NaBH 4 hydrolysis over the Co 2 ‐Cu 1 /Fe 3 O 4 @C catalyst is 47.81 kJ mol −1 . The superior catalytic performance is mainly attributed to the strong synergistic electronic interaction between Co and Cu bimetals, the high dispersion of active components on the support, and the stable core–shell structure of Fe 3 O 4 @C. In addition, the magnetic property of Fe 3 O 4 enables the convenient recovery and reuse of the catalyst by an external magnetic field, effectively solving the problems of difficult separation and low recyclability of traditional catalysts and providing a feasible approach for the development of low‐cost and high‐performance catalysts for NaBH 4 hydrolysis hydrogen production.