An effective synthesis route for improving the catalytic activity of carbon-supported Co–B catalyst for hydrogen generation through hydrolysis of NaBH4

A novel method for synthesis of carbon-supported cobalt boride catalyst was developed for hydrogen generation from catalytic hydrolysis of NaBH4 solution. The activated carbon and carbon black supported catalysts prepared by “reduction–precipitation” method were found to be much more active than those prepared by conventional “impregnation–reduction” method inspite of the same Co content. A maximum hydrogen generation was achieved using carbon black supported Co–B, which lowers the activation energy to 56.7 kJ mol−1. The effects of NaOH concentration (1–15 wt.%), NaBH4 concentration (5–20 wt.%) and reaction temperature (25–40 °C) on the performance of the most active catalyst (Co–B/CB) were investigated in detail. The results indicated that this catalyst can be used in a hydrogen generator for mobile applications such as PEMFC systems due to its high catalytic activity and simple preparation method.