Investigation of CoB/SBA-15 Catalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Generation via Sodium Borohydride Hydrolysis

Hydrolysis of NaBH₄ has garnered great concern in the production of hydrogen. Four different cobalt loadings (5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, 12.5 wt.% and 15 wt.%) were impregnated on SBA-15 molecular sieve. The effect of Co loading on the catalytic performance of the CoB/SBA-15 catalysts for NaBH₄ hydrolysis using the drainage method was studied. Characterizations using XRD, SEM, XPS, and N₂ adsorption-desorption were analytically conducted to examine the physiochemical properties of the CoB/SBA-15 catalyst. The catalytic activity test revealed that the optimum Co loading was 10 wt.% at which the maximum rate of hydrogen production was 153.0 mL/min⋅gcat, higher than the other samples. In addition, the effect of Co loaded, catalyst amount, and temperature were examined. Furthermore, the stability of the catalyst was maintained after five cycles. Cobalt-based catalysts are a promising catalytic system for hydrogen generation by hydrolysis of NaBH₄.