Development of catalysts for hydrogen generation from hydride compounds

Abstract Catalytic hydrolysis of NaBH 4 and NH 3 BH 3 has been studied. It was shown that the nature of the support and the active component of the catalyst affect the H 2 generation rate. Despite similar sizes of rhodium particles formed on the surface of different supports (γ-Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , carbon), their reactivity is different. Rh/TiO 2 with low rhodium concentration (1 wt.%) is the most active catalyst both in the hydrolysis of NaBH 4 and NH 3 BH 3 . The obtained results show that the rhodium chloride interaction with titania determines the reactivity of rhodium particles formed under action of NaBH 4 medium. TEM, DRS UV–vis and XPS were used to characterize the catalysts.