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Highly Active Metastable Ruthenium Nanoparticles for Hydrogen Production through the Catalytic Hydrolysis of Ammonia Borane
Author(s) -
AboHamed Enass K.,
Pennycook Timothy,
Vaynzof Yana,
Toprakcioglu Chris,
Koutsioubas Alexandros,
Scherman Oren A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201303507
Subject(s) - ammonia borane , catalysis , ruthenium , nanoparticle , borane , hydrolysis , hydrogen , metastability , materials science , dispersity , hydrogen production , inorganic chemistry , transition metal , chemistry , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , engineering
Late transition metal nanoparticles (NPs) with a favorably high surface area to volume ratio have garnered much interest for catalytic applications. Yet, these NPs are prone to aggregation in solution, which has been mitigated through attachment of surface ligands, additives or supports; unfortunately, protective ligands can severely reduce the effective surface area on the NPs available for catalyzing chemical transformations. The preparation of ‘metastable’ NPs can readily address these challenges. We report herein the first synthesis of monodisperse metastable ruthenium nanoparticles (RuNPs), having sub 5 nm size and an fcc structure, in aqueous media at room temperature, which can be stored for a period of at least 8 months. The RuNPs can subsequently be used for the catalytic, quantitative hydrolysis of ammonia‐borane (AB) yielding hydrogen gas with 21.8 turnovers per min at 25 °C. The high surface area available for hydrolysis of AB on the metastable RuNPs translated to an E a of 27.5 kJ mol ‐1 , which is notably lower than previously reported values for RuNP based catalysts.