Chitosan supported palladium nanoparticles: The novel catalysts for hydrogen generation from hydrolysis of ammonia borane

Chitosan supported palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs/CS) catalysts were facilely prepared via an in-situ reduction of PdCl 2 method and characterized by various techniques. The results showed that the palladium particles were in the range of 4–8 nm and evenly dispersed on chitosan. Furthermore, the resulting Pd NPs/CS catalysts showed high catalytic activity for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane (NH 3 BH 3 , AB) in aqueous solution. As for the catalytic reaction with an activation energy ( E a ) of 36.25 kJ mol −1 , the orders of palladium and AB concentrations were 0.81 and 0.45, respectively. The maximum turnover frequency was as high as 24.76 mol H 2 · mol Pd -1 · min -1 at 30 °C. In addition, the Pd NPs/CS catalysts still kept satisfied catalytic activity even after eleven runs.