Hydrogen Generation from the Hydrolysis of Ammonia-borane and Sodium Borohydride Using Water-soluble Polymer-stabilized Cobalt(0) Nanoclusters Catalyst

Polymer-stabilized cobalt(0) nanoclusters were prepared from the reduction of cobalt(II) chloride in the presence of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) stabilizer in methanol solution. PVP-stabilized cobalt(0) nanoclusters were found to be stable in solution and could be isolated as solid material and characterized by TEM, XPS, FT-IR, and UV−visible electronic absorption spectroscopy. PVP-stabilized cobalt(0) nanoclusters were employed as catalyst in the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride and ammonia-borane, which have been considered as solid-state hydrogen storage materials for portable fuel cell applications. PVP-stabilized cobalt(0) nanoclusters were found to be highly active catalyst in both hydrolysis reactions, even at room temperature. Kinetic studies show that the catalytic hydrolyses of sodium borohydride and ammonia-borane are both first order with respect to catalyst and substrate concentration in aqueous medium. The effect of the NaOH concentration on the catalytic activity of the PVP-stabilized cobalt(0) nanoclusters in the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride was also studied. The activation parameters of these hydrolysis reactions were determined from the evaluation of the kinetic data. The PVP-stabilized cobalt(0) nanoclusters provide a lower activation energy for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride both in aqueous medium ( E a = 63 ± 2 kJ·mol −1 ) and in basic solution ( E a = 37 ± 2 kJ·mol −1 ) compared to the value reported for bulk cobalt ( E a = 75 kJ·mol −1 ).