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Ultrasmall Ru Nanoclusters on Nitrogen‐Enriched Hierarchically Porous Carbon Support as Remarkably Active Catalysts for Hydrolysis of Ammonia Borane
Author(s) -
Zhang Lei,
Wang Yingying,
Li Jinglong,
Ren Xueying,
Lv Hao,
Su Xingsong,
Hu Yichen,
Xu Dongdong,
Liu Ben
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201801192
Subject(s) - ammonia borane , nanoclusters , nanomaterial based catalyst , catalysis , hydrolysis , chemistry , borane , mesoporous material , chemical engineering , hydrogen production , carbon fibers , inorganic chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , composite number , engineering , composite material
The development of the highly active nanocatalysts for effective hydrogen (H 2 ) production is of great significance for its practical applications in fuel cells. Herein, we reported a facile and scale‐up synthetic methodology to grow in situ the remarkably active nanocatalysts of ultrasmall Ru nanoclusters on nitrogen (N)‐enriched hierarchically macroporous‐mesoporous carbon supports (Ru@hPCN). The resultant Ru@hPCN combines structural and chemical merits of well‐dispersed 0.7‐nm Ru nanoclusters, N‐enriched functional surface and 3D hierarchically porous framework, all of which synergistically boost the catalytic performance toward the hydrolysis of ammonia‐borane (AB). An unprecedented activity with a turnover frequency of 1850 min −1 was achieved for the Ru@hPCN, which was 6.0 folds over that of commercialized Ru/C catalyst. Mechanism studies showed that the remarkably enhanced activity can be ascribed to the easier dissociation of electropositive H δ+ from H 2 O and the breakage of the B−N bonds as well as favorable mass transport in the Ru@hPCN during AB hydrolysis.