Hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of aluminum promoted by Ni–Li–B catalyst

Abstract In this study, the high activity Ni–Li–B catalysts were fabricated through wet chemical reduction method. Their morphological structures, crystallinity, surface area and composition were examined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The aluminum-water reaction tests were explored in the range of temperatures from 35–75 °C. It was found that water could react with aluminum to generate hydrogen gas. The yield and hydrogen generation rate were significantly increased when all prepared catalysts were added into the reaction. The Ni–Li–B (XLiCl = 0.1 g) catalyst exhibited the highest cumulative hydrogen volume of 201.3 ml with an average hydrogen production rate of 0.50 ml min−1 at 55 °C. This phenomenon could be pointed to the emergence of the micro galvanic cell formed by the Ni–Li–B, Li/Ni–Li–B, Li and Al, which accelerated aluminum to rapidly react with water.