From soil to lab: Utilization of clays as catalyst supports in hydrogen generation from sodium borohydride fuel

The stabilized aqueous solution of sodium borohydride NaBH4 is a promising hydrogen fuel but the stored hydrogen has to be released with the help of a catalyst through hydrolysis. In the present study, we developed Co- and clay-based supported catalysts. Three raw clays were taken from soil in Lebanon. Once purified and annealed, they were used as supports. Two of them, mainly composed of kaolinite and illite respectively, showed to be promising owing to their attractive specific surface areas (58.0 and 67.1 m2 g−1) as well as the high reactivity of the corresponding 15 wt.% Co catalysts (i.e. NaBH4 conversions of 100% and hydrogen generation rates up to ∼31 L(H2) min−1 g−1(Co)). A kinetic study was also carried out. The main results are reported and discussed herein.