Polymeric and metal oxide structured nanofibrous composites fabricated by electrospinning as highly efficient hydrogen evolution catalyst

Recent Advances in Noble Metal Catalysts for Hydrogen Production from Ammonia Borane

Interest in chemical hydrogen storage has increased, because the supply of fossil fuels are limited and the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels on the environment have become a focus of public concern. Hydrogen, as one of the energy carriers, is useful for the sustainable development. However, it is widely known that controlled storage and release of hydrogen are the biggest barriers in large-scale application of hydrogen energy. Ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) is deemed as one of the most promising hydrogen storage candidates on account of its high hydrogen to mass ratio and environmental benignity. Development of efficient catalysts to further improve the properties of chemical kinetics in the dehydrogenation of AB under appropriate conditions is of importance for the practical application of this system. In previous studies, a variety of noble metal catalysts and their supported metal catalysts (Pt, Pd, Au, Rh, etc.) have presented great properties in decomposing the chemical hydride to generate hydrogen, thus, promoting their application in dehydrogenation of AB is urgent. We analyzed the hydrolysis of AB from the mechanism of hydrogen release reaction to understand more deeply. Based on these characteristics, we aimed to summarize recent advances in the development of noble metal catalysts, which had excellent activity and stability for AB dehydrogenation, with prospect towards realization of efficient noble metal catalysts.

Ammonia Borane: An Extensively Studied, Though Not Yet Implemented, Hydrogen Carrier

Ammonia borane H3N−BH3 (AB) was re-discovered, in the 2000s, to play an important role in the developing hydrogen economy, but it has seemingly failed; at best it has lagged behind. The present review aims at analyzing, in the context of more than 300 articles, the reasons why AB gives a sense that it has failed as an anodic fuel, a liquid-state hydrogen carrier and a solid hydrogen carrier. The key issues AB faces and the key challenges ahead it has to address (i.e., those hindering its technological deployment) have been identified and itemized. The reality is that preventable errors have been made. First, some critical issues have been underestimated and thereby understudied, whereas others have been disproportionally considered. Second, the potential of AB has been overestimated, and there has been an undoubted lack of realistic and practical vision of it. Third, the competition in the field is severe, with more promising and cheaper hydrides in front of AB. Fourth, AB has been confined to lab benches, and consequently its technological readiness level has remained low. This is discussed in detail herein.

Gravity-driven catalytic nanofibrous membrane with microsphere and nanofiber coordinated structure for ultrafast continuous reduction of 4-nitrophenol

Silver loaded nanofibrous membrane with high catalytic performance for 4-nitrophenol under continuous gravity-driven filtration was developed in this study. A polydopamine (PDA) microsphere and nanofiber coordinated composite structure was fabricated through an in situ PDA synthesis to achieve a high catalyst loading and controllable residence time of 4-nitrophenol. The incorporated PDA microspheres played an important role for the enhancement of catalytic performance due to the increased surface area (23% increase compared with PAN and PAN-PDAs-Ag) and reduced membrane porosity. Silver loading amount and the residence time of 4-nitrophenol was increased by more than 108% (from 1.2 wt% to 2.5 wt%) and 45% (from 0.79 s to 1.15 s) when comparing with PAN-PDAc-Ag and PAN-PDAs-Ag nanofibrous membrane. The conversion rate of 4-nitrophenol in a gravity-driven filtration process was as high as 97% when PAN-PDAs-Ag nanofibrous membrane was used, which was much higher than the PAN-PDAc-Ag membrane (80%). In addition, the PAN-PDAs-Ag nanofibrous membrane exhibited excellent recycle performance, the conversion rate was maintained as high as 93% after five times of reuse. The microsphere and nanofiber coordinated structure with enhanced surface area and controllable residence time of contaminants proposed in this study might advance the real applications of electrospun nanofibrous membrane for catalytic removal of contaminants.