Co/MoS2 nanocomposite catalyzed H2 evolution upon dimethylamine-borane hydrolysis and in situ tandem reaction

Since dimethylamine-borane ($ 463/kg) is much cheaper than ammonia borane ($ 13,921/kg), the hydrolysis of dimethylamine-borane catalyzed by transition metal nanocatalysts has long been proposed as a viable opportunity for hydrogen evolution, but it often required noble metals nanocomposites, such as Pt, Rh and Ru. Herein, we first report the ultrafine non-noble metal nanoparticles supported on MoS 2 nanosheet (including Fe/MoS 2 , Co/MoS 2 , Ni/MoS 2 and Cu/MoS 2 ) for the H 2 evolution from hydrolysis of dimethyl amine-borane (DMAB). Among them, Co/MoS 2 is found to be more efficient than others for the H 2 evolution, with the TOF of 374 mol (H2) •mol cat −1 •h −1 . Kinetic isotopic experiment and the tandem reaction have confirmed that H 2 evolution by using H atoms in water.