Investigation on M@CuOx/C (M=Ru, Rh, Pd and Pt) catalysts prepared by galvanic reduction for hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane

The development of a cost-effective catalyst for hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane is of importance for the application of AB as a hydrogen storage material. In this manuscript, a series of noble metal catalysts M@CuOx/C (M = Ru, Rh, Pd, and Pt) are prepared by the galvanic reduction method. The catalysts are characterized by XRD, TEM, EDS mappings and lines scanning, XPS, HAADF-STEM, and ICP-OES. The noble metal is highly dispersed on the surface of Cu nanoparticles. The morphology of Cu nanoparticles changed according to different metals after the introduction of noble metal and there has an interaction between the noble metal and Cu. The M@CuOx/C is used for the hydrolysis of AB. For the same metal catalyst, the activity of M@CuOx/C is increased by about 3–7 times than the corresponding M/C at 298 K. The Rh shows the highest TOF and lowest activation energy among the four noble metals.