Positive roles of microwave irradiation in hydrogen production from hydrolysis of sodium borohydride using iron oxide catalyst synthesized with watermelon seed peel extract by green method

This study reported the activities of WSP-FeO nanoparticles catalysts synthesized by the green synthesis method using watermelon seed peel (WSP) extract in sodium borohydride hydrolysis. The activities of the synthesized nanoparticles catalyst in the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride at different microwave irradiation, solution temperatures, catalyst amounts, NaBH4 concentrations, and sodium hydroxyl concentrations were evaluated. The hydrolysis kinetics of NaBH4 in the presence of WSP-FeO-NPs catalysts were determined according to the nth-order and the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic models. The activation energies were calculated to be 18.98 kJ/mol and 18.96 kJ/mol, respectively. WSP-FeO nanoparticles were characterized by FTIR, TEM, EDX, SEM, and XRD analysis to determine their structural and morphological properties. According to the XRD and TEM analysis results, the nanoparticles were very pure and well crystalline, with particle diameters between 8.9-18.5 nm and 6–12 nm.