Improved hydrogen generation from alkaline solution using carbon-supported as catalysts

Carbon-supported Co–B catalysts with various loading contents were prepared by impregnation–chemical reduction method. The XRD, ICP, SEM and TEM analyses revealed that the as-prepared Co–B catalysts were in amorphous form with the composition of Co 2.0 – 3.3 B and the carbon-supported Co–B catalysts had a good dispersion and coating condition. The hydrogen generation measurement showed that the average hydrogen generation rate at 25 ∘ C was 1127.2 mL min - 1 g - 1 for unsupported Co–B catalyst, while it was 1268.1, 1482.1 and 2073.1 mL min - 1 g - 1 for the carbon-supported catalysts with the Co–B loading of 30.0, 15.6 and 7.44 wt%, respectively. The activation energy of the 30.0 wt% Co–B loading catalyst for the hydrogen generation reaction was measured to be 57.8 kJ mol - 1 . Compared with the unsupported Co–B catalyst, the as-prepared carbon-supported catalysts presented higher activity for hydrolysis of NaBH 4 aqueous solution, indicating their potential application in mobile hydrogen production for fuel cells.