Highly efficient hydrogen release from formic acid using a graphitic carbon nitride-supported AgPd nanoparticle catalyst

Bimetallic AgPd nanoparticles with various molar ratios immobilized on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) were successfully synthesized via a facile co-reduction approach. The powder XRD, XPS, TEM, EDX, ICP-AES and BET were employed to characterize the structure, size, composition and loading metal electronic states of the AgPd/g-C 3 N 4 catalysts. The catalytic property of as-prepared catalysts for the dehydrogenation of formic acid (FA) with sodium formate (SF) as the additive was investigated. The performance of these catalysts, as indicated by the turnover frequency (TOF), depended on the composition of the prepared catalysts. Among all the AgPd/g-C 3 N 4 catalysts tested, Ag 9 Pd 91 /g-C 3 N 4 was found to be an exceedingly high activity for decomposing FA into H 2 with TOF up to 480   h −1 at 323   K. The prepared catalyst is thus a potential candidate for triggering the widespread use of FA for H 2 storage.