Noble-metal-free NiFe nanoparticles immobilized on nano CeZrO2 solid solutions for highly efficient hydrogen production from hydrous hydrazine

Hydrous hydrazine (N2H4·H2O) is considered a highly promising liquid chemical hydrogen storage material because of its high hydrogen content (8.0 wt%), simple byproduct (i.e., N2) and safe handling. In this work, noble-metal-free NiFe nanoparticles (NPs) supported on nano CeZrO2 solid solutions have been facilely synthesized and successfully applied as a highly efficient catalyst for the rapid and complete decomposition of N2H4 in aqueous solution. The turnover frequency (TOF) value of the NiFe/CeZrO2 catalyst for hydrogen generation from N2H4 reached 119.2 h−1 under alkaline conditions at 343 K, which is 28-fold higher than that of the benchmark catalyst, pure NiFe NPs (4.2 h−1). Moreover, the H2 selectivity and activity show almost no decrease after five runs, indicating that the prepared NiFe/CeZrO2 catalyst possesses high durability and stability under the current conditions. The high catalytic performance can be attributed to the synergistic electronic effect between NiFe NPs and nano CeZrO2 solid solutions, as well as small nanoparticles with highly dispersed active sites.