Natural lignin as efficient catalyst for H2 production from NaBH4 methanolysis at low temperature

Herein, natural lignin is used for the first time as a catalyst for the methanolysis of NaBH 4 . Lignin exhibits excellent catalytic activity for the methanolysis of NaBH 4 , and the HGR value is as high as 20425 mL H 2 ·g cat −1 ·min −1 at room-temperature. It is still satisfactory even at − 20 ℃, with a HGR of 2182 mL H 2 ·g cat −1 ·min −1 , which is the highest value reported in the literature to date. In addition, the study of kinetic reaction orders for NaBH 4 methanolysis catalyzed by lignin indicates that the catalytic methanolysis of NaBH 4 obeys first-order kinetics with respect to both of NaBH 4 concentration and catalyst dosage. The activation energy for the methanolysis catalysis by lignin is calculated to be 19.5 kJ·mol −1 at low temperature of − 20 ∼ 25 ℃. The lignin retain over 66% of the original catalytic activity at the end of fifth consecutive reuse, and the catalytic activity can be completely recovered through simple acid treatment.