Thermolytic dehydrogenation of cotton-structured SiO2-Ammonia borane nanocomposite

• Published in: Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry (Seoul, Korea) Vol. 88; pp. 278 - 284
• Main Authors: Shin, Seunghun, Jin, Joon-Hyung, Jung, Jihoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 25.08.2020; 한국공업화학회
• Subjects: Ammonia borane; Cotton structure; Hydrogen fuel composite; Nano SiO2catalyst; Thremolysis; 화학공학; Hydrogen fuel composite; Cotton structure; Thremolysis; Nano SiO2catalyst; Ammonia borane
• ISSN: 1226-086X; 1876-794X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiec.2020.04.025

[Display omitted] •The size and size distribution of the nano SiO2 collectively affect the H2 yield.•For thermolytic H2 evolution, cotton-structured AB-SiO2 shows two weight loss steps.•The cotton-structured AB-SiO2 composite produces H2 gas via a one-step mechanism.•AB-SiO2 composite prepared by mechanical mixing and pressing shows cotton structure. Thermal dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (AB) is one of the simplest methods to generate pure hydrogen for hydrogen power-driven proton exchange membrane fuel cells. For AB thermolysis, it is imperative to develop a highly effective catalyst to initiate the dehydrogenation reaction at a low temperature and eventually achieve enhanced hydrogen production. Here, we introduce a specifically designed AB-SiO2 nanocomposite, which is prepared by simple mixing and pressing processes. Hydrogen evolution during thermolysis of the cotton-structured AB-SiO2 composite is initiated at around 80°C, and the maximum H2 yield is determined to be 11.2wt% (2.32mole equivalents of H2). The yield is found to depend on the size and size distribution of the catalytic SiO2 particles in the hydrogen fuel composite.