MnOx-Promoted PdAg Alloy Nanoparticles for the Additive-Free Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid at Room Temperature

Formic acid (HCOOH) has a great potential as a safe and a convenient hydrogen carrier for fuel cell applications. However, efficient and CO-free hydrogen production through the decomposition of formic acid at low temperatures (<363 K) in the absence of additives constitutes a major challenge. Herein, we present a new heterogeneous catalyst system composed of bimetallic PdAg alloy and MnOx nanoparticles supported on amine-grafted silica facilitating the liberation of hydrogen at room temperature through the dehydrogenation of formic acid in the absence of any additives with remarkable activity (330 mol H2·mol catalyst-1·h-1) and selectivity (>99%) at complete conversion (>99%). Moreover this new catalytic system enables facile catalyst recovery and very high stability against agglomeration, leaching, and CO poisoning. Through a comprehensive set of structural and functional characterization experiments, mechanistic origins of the unusually high catalytic activity, selectivity, and stability of this unique catalytic system are elucidated. Current heterogeneous catalytic architecture presents itself as an excellent contender for clean hydrogen production via room-temperature additive-free dehydrogenation of formic acid for on-board hydrogen fuel cell applications. © 2015 American Chemical Society

Post-functionalized iridium Zr-MOF as a promising recycle catalyst for the hydrogenation of aromatics

[EN] The multifunctional heterogeneous catalyst iridium–Zr-based MOF is able to effectively catalyze the hydrogenation of aromatic compounds in high yields under mild conditions. The catalyst was found to be highly active and reusable, giving similar reactivity and selectivity after at least five catalytic uses.We thank the MINECO of Spain (project MAT2011-29020-C02-02), Consolider-Ingenio 2010-(CSD-0050-MULTICAT). for financial support. A.M.R.A. thanks MINECO for the FPI program.Rasero Almansa, AM.; Corma Canós, A.; Iglesias, M.; Sánchez Alonso, F. (2014). Post-functionalized iridium Zr-MOF as a promising recycle catalyst for the hydrogenation of aromatics. Green Chemistry. 16(7):3522-3527. https://doi.org/10.1039/c4gc00581cS3522352716

Hydrogen generation from hydrolysis of sodium borohydride using Ru(0) nanoclusters as catalyst

Sodium borohydride is stable in aqueous alkaline solution, however, it hydrolyses in water to hydrogen gas in the presence of suitable catalyst. By this way hydrogen can be generated safely for the fuel cells. Generating H-2 catalytically from NaBH4 solutions has many advantages: NaBH4 solutions are nonflammable, reaction products are environmentally benign, rate of H-2 generation is easily controlled, the reaction product NaBO2 can be recycled, H-2 can be generated even at low temperatures. All of the catalysts that has been used in hydrolysis of sodium borohydride are bulk metals and they act as heterogeneous catalysts. The limited surface area of the heterogeneous catalysts causes lower catalytic activity as the activity of catalyst is directly related to its surface area. Thus, the use of metal nanoparticles with large surface area provides potential route to increase the catalytic activity. Here, we report, for the first time, the use of ruthenium(0) nanoclusters as catalyst in the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride liberating hydrogen gas. The ruthenium nanoparticles are generated from the reduction of ruthenium(III) chloride by sodium borohydride in water and stabilized by specific ligand. The ruthenium(0) nanoclusters are found to be highly active catalyst for the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride

Nickel nanoparticles decorated on electrospun polycaprolactone/chitosan nanofibers as flexible, highly active and reusable nanocatalyst in the reduction of nitrophenols under mild conditions

Today, the reduction of nitro aromatics stands a major challenge because of the pollutant and detrimental nature of these compounds. In the present study, we show that nickel(0) nanoparticles (Ni-NP) decorated on electrospun polymeric (polycaprolactone(PCL)/chitosan) nanofibers (Ni-NP/ENF) effectively catalyze the reduction of various nitrophenols (2-nitrophenol, 2,4-dinitrophenol, 2,4,6-trinitrophenol) under mild conditions. Ni-NP/ENF nanocatalyst was reproducibly prepared by deposition-reduction technique. The detailed characterization of these Ni-NP/ENF based nanocatalyst have been performed by using various spectroscopic tools including ICP-OES, P-XRD, XPS, SEM, BFTEM, HRTEM and BFTEM-EDX techniques. The results revealed the formation of well-dispersed nickel(0) NP (dmean = 2.71–2.93 nm) on the surface of electrospun polymeric nanofibers. The catalytic activity of the resulting Ni-NP/ENF was evaluated in the catalytic reduction of nitrophenols in aqueous solution in the presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) as reducing agent, in which Ni-NP/ENF nanocatalyst has shown high activity (TOF = 46.2 mol 2-nitrophenol/mol Ni min; 48.2 mol 2,4-dinitrophenol/mol Ni min; 65.6 mol 2,4,6-trinitrophenol/mol Ni min). More importantly, due to the nanofibrous polymeric support, Ni-NP/ENF has shown a flexible characteristics along with reusability property. Testing the catalytic stability of Ni-NP/ENF revealed that this new catalytic material provides high reusability performance (at 3rd reuse 86% for 2-nitrophenol, 83% 2,4-dinitrophenol and 82% 2,4,6-trinitrophenol) for the reduction of nitrophenols even at room temperature and under air. The present study reported here also includes the compilation of wealthy kinetic data for Ni-NP/ENF catalyzed the reduction of nitrophenols in aqueous sodium borohydride solution depending on temperature and type of support material (Al2O3, C, SiO2) to understand the effect of the support material and determine the activation parameters. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

Phosphine-Stabilized Ruthenium Nanoparticles: The Effect of the Nature of the Ligand in Catalysis

International audienceVarious ligands not forming monometallic complexes were used for Ru nanoparticle stabilization, enabling the control of size, shape, and electronic properties. HRMAS NMR spectroscopy allowed us to study surface-bound molecules, evidencing ligand hydrogenation and decomposition of THFduring the RuNP synthesis. Catalysis studies underscore the importance of the nature of the ligands. The RuNPs were tested in the hydrogenation of aromatics, showing very high activities (TOF > 60 000 h–1, 40 bar, 393 K). A pronounced ligand effect was found, and dialkylaryl phosphine ligands gave the fastest catalyst

Copper(0) Nanoparticles Supported on Silica-Coated Cobalt Ferrite Magnetic Particles: Cost Effective Catalyst in the Hydrolysis of Ammonia-Borane with an Exceptional Reusability Performance

Herein we report the development of a new and cost-effective nanocomposite catalyst for the hydrolysis of ammonia-borane (NH3BH3), which is considered to be one of the most promising solid hydrogen carriers because of its high gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity (19.6% wt) and low molecular weight. The new catalyst system consisting of copper nanoparticles supported on magnetic SiO2/CoFe2O4 particles was reproducibly prepared by wet-impregnation of Cu(II) ions on SiO2/CoFe2O4 followed by in situ reduction of the Cu(II) ions on the surface of magnetic support during the hydrolysis of NH3BH3 and characterized by ICP-MS, XRD, XPS, TEM, HR-TEM and N-2 adsorption-desorption technique. Copper nanoparticles supported on silica coated cobalt(II) ferrite SiO2/CoFe2O4 (CuNPs@SCF) act as highly active catalyst in the hydrolysis of ammonia-borane, providing an initial turnover frequency of TOF = 2400 h(-1) at room temperature, which is not only higher than all the non-noble metal catalysts but also higher than the majority of the noble metal based homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts employed in the same reaction.. More importantly, they were easily recovered by using a permanent magnet in the reactor wall and reused for up, to 10 recycles without losing their inherent catalytic activity significantly, which demonstrates the exceptional reusability of the CuNPs@SCF catalyst