Preparation and application of Sm-Ni oxide doped TiO2 nanofiber as catalyst in hydrogen production from sodium borohydride hydrolysis

摘要

Ternary catalyst system composed of samarium (Sm) and nickel (Ni) oxide doped titanium oxide nanofiber was synthesized for improving hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of sodium borohydide. The catalytic activities of the fabricated catalyst were compared with the binary system of nickel oxide- and samarium oxide-doped titanium oxide nanofibers. The SEM results of Sm-Ni oxide doped TiO2 nanofibers showed the average diameter of 633 +/- 95 nm and 857 +/- 33 nm pore diameter with uniform morphology. EDX provided the information about the elements present in nanofibers. Based on BET measurements, the surface area of Sm-Ni oxide doped TiO2 nanofibers system shows higher value when compared with those results obtained for pure Ni oxide- and pure Sm oxide-doped titanium oxide nanofibers. The hydrogen production results show that Sm-Ni oxide doped TiO2 nanofiber can efficiently be used as catalyst with greater catalytic activity as compared to the nickel doped titania and Sm2O3 doped TiO2 nanofibers. The hydrogen generation for the Sm-Ni oxide doped TiO2 can reach up to 650 mL in 160 min at 45 degrees C. The doping of Sm-Ni oxide on TiO2 can improve the surface area and cationic as well as electronic defect in oxide which can help to increase the diffusion rate of reactants. Furthermore, the Sm-Ni oxide doped catalyst showed superior recyclability with almost similar catalytic activity for repetitive five cycles. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.