Dicationic poly(4-vinyl pyridinium) ionic liquid capsules as template for Co nanoparticle preparation and H2 production from hydrolysis of NaBH4

• P(4-VP) microgels as colloidal ionic liquid capsule were prepared.
• Dicationic p(4-VP) capsules with different anions as counter ions were formed via ion exchange.
• P(4-VP) capsules were used as template for metal nanoparticle preparation and as soft reactor.
• P(4-VP) capsules containing Co catalyst were used in H2 generation via NaBH4 hydrolysis.

Poly(4-vinyl pyridine)-silica (p(4-VP)-silica) composites were synthesized via micro emulsion polymerization, and the capsule of p(4-vinyl pyridine), as cap-p(4-VP), was prepared by removing the core silica from p(4-VP)-silica composites by HF treatment. Dicationic particles in the form of cap-poly(4-vinyl pyridine)++-1,4-butane (cap-p(4-VP)++-C4), capsule-poly(4-vinyl pyridine)++-1,6-hexane (cap-p(4-VP)++-C6), and capsule-poly(4-vinyl pyridine)++-1,8-octane (cap-p(4-VP)++-C8) were prepared by modifying cap-p(4-VP) particles with corresponding dibromo alkanes. Then, polymer–metal composites were also prepared from cap-p(4-VP) and dicationic cap-p(4-VP) particles by loading CoCl2 from ethanol and the obtained composites were used in H2 generation from hydrolysis of NaBH4, and The Ea for the composite catalyst was calculated as 56.53 kJ/mol.

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