Synergetic catalysis of NiPd nanoparticles supported on biomass-derived carbon spheres for hydrogen production from ammonia borane at room temperature

In this paper, carbon spheres with well-controlled nano-morphologies is fabricated by hydrothermal carbonization of biomass in the presence of sodium polyacrylate. Bimetallic NixPdy nanoparticles are successfully anchored on the carbon spheres and used as the heterogeneous catalyst for the hydrogen generation from ammonia borane. This combination of bimetallic NiPd with carbon spheres is first proven to be responsible for the efficient production of hydrogen from ammonia borane, providing the turnover frequency value of 182 mol H2 mol catalyst−1 min−1 at room temperature. The superior catalytic activity of the catalyst can be ascribed to the highly dispersed NiPd nanoparticles and the synergetic interaction of the metal and the support. The present heterogeneous catalytic system presents itself as an excellent contender for clean hydrogen production via room-temperature dehydrogenation of ammonia borane.