Enhanced aerogel via flower shaped Co2B@Co(OH)2 and carbon nanofiber for hydrogen generation via catalytic NaBH4 hydrolysis

Compared with micro-nano powder, the integral catalyst shows the advantage of easy recovery in practical applications. Aerogel exhibit a lightweight and porous skeletal structure, making it one of the excellent carrier options in integral catalyst. Here, the novel aerogel composite is prepared by sol-gel and freeze-drying, in which including chitosan, cellulose, carbon nanofiber and micron composite catalyst. Then, nano Co 2 B is in-situ loaded onto the surface of micron flower shaped Co(OH) 2 , forming the catalyst. The results show the hydrogen generation rate of Co 2 B@Co(OH) 2 is 8117.7 mL min −1 g −1 , higher than most of the published literatures, which is attributed to crystal and amorphous interface, nano structure and mass transfer pathway. Meanwhile, the hydrogen generation rate of the aerogel composite is 6022.8 mL min −1 g −1 , showing high exposure rate of active sites (74.2 %) and low mass loss rate (7.3 %), due to the chemical cross-linking between chitosan and glutaraldehyde, and porous and fibrous network skeleton formed between different components. The natural polymer-based aerogel exhibits the combined advantages of being biodegradable, recyclable, and serving as self-assembled micro-nano powder catalysts.