Hexagonal boron nitride supported ruthenium nanoparticles as highly active catalysts for ammonia borane hydrolysis

Abstract Ammonia borane (AB) hydrolysis is a comparative strategy for developing the sustainable hydrogen economy. Considering the hydrolysis cannot occur kinetically at low temperature, a suitable catalyst is indispensable. In this work, the dispersed ruthenium nanoparticles are stabilized on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) via an adsorption-in situ reduction procedure. Various characterization techniques are adopted for elucidating the structure-performance relationship of the obtained catalysts for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of AB. In the presence of the resultant Ru/h-BN catalysts, the corresponding turnover frequency (1177.5 min−1) in alkaline solution at 303 K and the apparent activation energy (24.1 kJ mol−1) are superior to most literature previously reported. Our work provides a facile fabrication method for metal-based catalysts, which are highly promising in chemical storage material hydrolysis.