Palladium (0) nanoparticles distributed on lanthanum (III) oxide as an effective catalyst for the methanolysis of hydrazine-borane to produce hydrogen

Abstract

Pd (0) nanoparticles (NPs) distributed on lanthanum (III) oxide were ex situ generated from the reduction of Pd 2+ ions using NaBH 4 as reducing agent. The Pd/La 2 O 3 displayed good catalytic activity in H 2 (g) releasing from the hydrazine-borane (HB) methanolysis reaction and it was identified by advanced techniques. Pd/La 2 O 3 was found to be an active catalyst procuring three equiv. H 2 (g) per mole of HB. The results from TEM images represent the formation of Pd (0) NPs with an average particle size of 1.94 ± 0.1 nm on the surface of La 2 O 3 . Moreover, Pd/La 2 O 3 with various Pd loadings were prepared and tested as catalyst in the methanolysis reaction to find the optimum metal loading on La 2 O 3 support. The highest H 2 formation rate was achieved with 3.0 wt% Pd. Pd/La 2 O 3 catalyst exhibited a turnover frequency (TOF) value of 24.4 mol H 2 mol Pd −1 min −1 in the reaction conditions. Additionally, the effect of different catalyst concentrations and temperatures on the reaction kinetics for the methanolysis of HB catalyzed by Pd/La 2 O 3 .