A review of hydrogen production kinetics from the hydrolysis of NaBH4 solution catalyzed by Co-based catalysts

On account of the exhausted fossil fuels, developing green hydrogen has become a meaningful alternative. Among most of hydrogen production strategies, the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is considered to be a promising method due to its innate advantages, such as high hydrogen storage capacity, non-pollution environment and controllable released hydrogen process. However, the hydrogen generation upon NaBH4 hydrolysis requires the presence of appropriate catalysts. In the last few years, some non-noble metal catalysts have been investigated toward the hydrogen production from the hydrolysis of NaBH4 solution, especially the Co-based catalysts because of their high activity, low price and high stability. Hence, the detailed summary and analysis about the developing of the Co-based catalysts is helpful in grasping the subsequent research tendency to meet the practical application requirements. In this review, the progress of hydrogen production kinetics from NaBH4 hydrolysis catalyzed by Co-based catalysts is systematically reviewed, including two categories of the non-supported and supported Co-based catalysts. The preparation method, material composition, microstructure, catalytic activity and improvement strategy have also been discussed. Finally, the development challenge and perspective of Co-based catalysts for the hydrolysis of NaBH4 solution are predicted in future.