An effective synthesis route for improving the catalytic activity of carbon-supported Co-B catalyst for hydrogen generation through hydrolysis of NaBH4

A novel method for synthesis of carbon-supported cobalt boride catalyst was developed for hydrogen generation from catalytic hydrolysis of NaBH4 solution. The activated carbon and carbon black supported catalysts prepared by “reduction-precipitation” method were found to be much more active than those prepared by conventional “impregnation-reduction” method inspite of the same Co content. A maximum hydrogen generation was achieved using carbon black supported Co-B, which lowers the activation energy to 56.7 kJ mol−1. The effects of NaOH concentration (1-15 wt.%), NaBH4 concentration (5-20 wt.%) and reaction temperature (25-40 °C) on the performance of the most active catalyst (Co-B/CB) were investigated in detail. The results indicated that this catalyst can be used in a hydrogen generator for mobile applications such as PEMFC systems due to its high catalytic activity and simple preparation method.