H2 production from the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of methylamine-borane catalyzed by sulfonated reduced graphene oxide-aided synthesis of ruthenium nanoparticles

Abstract A new catalyst was prepared using sulfonated reduced graphene oxide support with a large surface area containing ruthenium nanoparticles (Ru@rGO-SO3H). The developed Ru@rGO-SO3H catalyst was used in the hydrogen production process from the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of methylamine-borane (MeAB). Sulfonated reduced graphene oxide and the developed catalyst were characterized by Raman and FT-IR spectroscopies, ICP-OES, XRD, XPS, TEM, TEM-EDX, SEM and SEM-EDX techniques. The average particle size of Ru nanoparticles, which were homogeneously distributed on the sulfonated reduced graphene oxide surface, was found as 2.2 ± 0.2 nm. After analyzing the effect of nanocatalyst and substrate concentrations on the catalytic reaction, reactions were realized at different temperatures, the efficiency of the Ru@rGO-SO3H nanocatalyst in initial turnover frequency (TOFinitial) and the activation parameters (Ea, ΔH# and ΔS#) were calculated. According to the data obtained, the TOFinitial value was calculated as 5300.86 h− 1 (88.35 min− 1). Ea, ΔH# and ΔS# values were also calculated as 53.83 kJ/mol, 50.73 kJ/mol and −51.55 J/mol.K, respectively. Finally, when the reusability performance results of the catalyst are evaluated, it is found that the catalyst is very stable and retains its initial effectiveness to a great extent (>95%) after the 5th reuse.