Mechanochemistry-assisted construction of strong metal−support interactions in core-shell metal@BN toward enhanced hydrogen generation

Among various heterogeneous catalysts, the strong metal–support interaction (SMSI)-based catalysts have demonstrated remarkable activity in many fields. However, most of the classical SMSI catalysts reported so far are based on oxide supports and are formed under harsh reduction conditions and high temperatures. Herein, a metal/BN core–shell structure based on SMSI is reported by the reduction reaction of metal ions on hBN modified by a simple ball-milling process. This effective method can be further generalized to load various noble or non-noble metal nanoparticles (Co, Ni, Fe, Cu, and Pt) on modified hBN. Both experimental results and theoretical calculations show that hBN with good crystallization after ball milling tends to become amorphous, and the adsorption between the amorphous BN and metal nanoparticles is significantly enhanced. Due to the formation of the SMSI shell, the Pt on modified hBN sample showed enhanced catalytic performance for the hydrogen production via hydrolysis of ammonia borane. Compared with Pt on pristine hBN, the catalytic turnover frequency of Pt on modified hBN catalyst is increased by 4 times to 366.9 min −1 and shows twice the stable catalytic duration, both of which are predominant among most Pt-based catalysts reported so far.