Co–Fe–B as an effective catalyst for hydrogen production from NaBH4 hydrolysis

The Co–Fe–B catalysts were prepared on Cu foam via electroless plating method at room temperature and applied in the NaBH4 hydrolysis system. By optimizing the solution pH value to 12.0, the as-manufactured spherical Co–Fe–B with the hollows can offer high specific surface area and thus create more active sites. The outstanding improvement of the catalytic performance has been achieved for hydrogen production from NaBH4 solution, including the high hydrogen generation rate of 10690.3 mL∙min-1∙g-1 at room temperature and the lower activation energy of 55.6 kJ·mol−1. Meanwhile, the hydrolysis process is monitored to be a first-order reaction based on the amount of Co–Fe–B catalyst. According to the correlation between the hydrogen generation rate value and OH− anion concentration, the "volcano-type" trend is found for the hydrolysis solution.