MCM-41 supported NiPCeOx nanoparticles as highly efficient non-noble metal catalyst for hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane

Efficient and controllable hydrogen release from ammonia borane (NH 3 BH 3 , AB) hydrolysis is a secure and effective way to generate hydrogen on-demand. The development of high-efficiency and low-cost catalysts is of important but still remains a great challenge. Herein, uniformly dispersed NiPCeO x nanoparticles (NPs) with narrow size distribution supported on mesoporous MCM-41 were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation followed by NaBH 4 reduction. Attributing to the ordered mesoporous structure of the support as well as the efficiently enhancement of electron density on the Ni active sites brought by the electron transfers , the NiPCeO x /MCM-41 catalyst exhibits exceptional catalytic performance towards AB hydrolysis with a high turnover frequency (TOF) value of 47.3 mol H2 (mol Ni ·min) −1 at 298 K and a low apparent activation energy ( Ea ) of 35.86 kJ mol −1 . Furthermore, the NiPCeO x /MCM-41 catalyst shows excellent durability with 76.5% of the initial TOF value remained after five cycles.