Application of microwave synthesized Ag-Rh nanoparticles in cyclohexane dehydrogenation for enhanced H2 delivery

The catalytic dehydrogenation of liquid organic hydrides (LOH) is a promising route to deliver H2 for various mobile and stationary applications. However, an efficient and low-cost dehydrogenation catalyst, as an alternative to Pt, is a key for the success of LOH-based H2 supply. In a quest for such catalysts, we synthesized stable Ag-Rh bimetallic nanoparticles (BNP) supported on activated carbon cloth (ACC) and Y2O3 using the microwave-assisted polyol technique. The performance of these catalysts during dehydrogenation of LOH viz., cyclohexane, was evaluated at 300 °C using an advanced spray-pulse reactor system. The Ag:Rh ratio was optimized to maximize the cyclohexane conversion and H2 evolution. The effect of Ag:Rh ratio, catalyst support, and synthesis method was investigated, too. The most stable H2 evolution performance was exhibited by microwave-synthesized 1:4 Ag-Rh/Y2O3 catalyst with the cyclohexane conversion, dehydrogenation rate and H2 evolution rate of 35.8%, 17.2 mmol/gMet/min and 400 mmol/gMet/min, respectively. Finally, the performance of catalysts used in this study was compared with the Pt-based catalysts.