Metal‐ion‐containing ionic liquid hydrogels and their application to hydrogen production

A cationic hydrogel synthesized from (3‐acrylamidopropyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride as poly[(3‐acrylamidopropyl) trimethyl ammonium chloride] [p(APTMACl)] was put into contact with the chloride salts of metals such as CoCl 2 , NiCl 2 , and CuCl 2 in ethanol. The metal‐loaded p(APTMACl) hydrogels were used as catalyst systems in hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) and ammonia borane. The activation energy values for the hydrolysis reaction were calculated for all of the catalyst systems and were found to be 53.43 and 26.74 kJ/mol for p(APTMACl)–[CoCl 4 ] 2− and p(APTMACl)–[NiCl 4 ] 2− , respectively. These activation parameters were better than values reported in the literature for the ionic liquid metal complexes of smaller molecules used for the same purpose. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40183.