Coupling geometric and electronic engineering over RuNi ultrafine alloys for fast boosting hydrolytic dehydrogenation of NH3BH3

Developing a suitable catalyst for ammonia borane (AB, NH 3 BH 3 ) hydrolysis and clarifying the catalytic mechanism are essential and challenging at present. In this work, RuNi nanoalloys are supported on an N/O co-coped glucose-derived carbon (g-C) with the adsorption-NaBH 4 reduction method. Attributed to the particular geometric and anchoring effects, as well as the improved hydrophilicity of the multi-level porous support, the RuNi alloys are highly and firmly confined in the framework of g-C. Specifically, the optimal Ru 0.25 Ni 0.75 @g-C with an average alloy particle size of 1.4 nm exhibits pleasurable specific hydrogen evolution rate (437,990 mL min −1 g Ru −1 ) and turnover frequency (1612.37 min −1 ) in NaOH aqueous solution (1.5 M) at 303 K, superior to the corresponding monometallic counterparts (i.e., Ni@g-C and Ru@g-C) and many previous results. In addition, apart from satisfactory durability, the optimal alloy catalyst delivers an encouraging apparent activation energy (28.1 kJ mol −1 ). Our work not only explains the geometric and electronic effects on the catalytic performance but also offers a promising catalyst for hydrogen release from liquid-phase AB.