La(OH)3-decorated NiFe nanoparticles as efficient catalyst for hydrogen evolution from hydrous hydrazine and hydrazine borane

Ultrafine NiFe nanoparticles (NPs) decorated by La(OH) 3 have been successfully prepared via a facile one-step co-reduction method without the help of surfactant or support. It was found that after being decorated with La(OH) 3 , the NiFe–La(OH) 3 NPs have a smaller particle size and lower crystallinity . The resultant NiFe–La(OH) 3 nanocatalyst exhibits an excellent catalytic activity , 100% H 2 selectivity, and satisfied recyclability for hydrogen evolution from hydrous hydrazine (N 2 H 4 ·H 2 O) at 343 K under alkaline conditions, giving a high turnover frequency (TOF) value of 100.6 h −1 , which is more than 35 times higher than pure NiFe NPs (2.8 h −1 ). The kinetics study shows that with respect to the concentration of catalyst and N 2 H 4 , the N 2 H 4 dehydrogenation reaction follows fist-order kinetics and zero-order kinetics, respectively. Furthermore, NiFe–La(OH) 3 also exhibits an outstanding performance and excellent recycle stability during high dehydrogenation of hydrazine borane (N 2 H 4 BH 3 ). The excellent performances for the dehydrogenation of N 2 H 4 and N 2 H 4 BH 3 could be attributed to the strong interaction between La(OH) 3 and NiFe NPs, as well as ultrafine and low crystalline NiFe NPs due to the addition of La(OH) 3 .