Fe-B catalyst fabricated by hybrid capacitive adsorption-chemical reduction method and its application for hydrogen production from NaBH4 solution

摘要

Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) in the presence of sodium hydroxide as a stabilizer was a hydrogen generation source with high hydrogen storage efficiency and stability. The catalyst has a key role in H2 generation reaction from NaBH4. We reported that a structured Fe-B catalyst prepared by capacitive adsorption of Fe ions followed by alkaline chemical reduction step. A porous carbon clothes could hold Fe ions with capacitive current and it was reduced by NaBH4 hydrolysis. The loading amount and the density of Fe-B electrodes were strongly dependent of the experiment conditions of an applied potential at the first step and the reduction time at the second step. We observed that Fe-B showed a stable hydrogen production from NaBH4 without fast degradation phenomena; even if the production rate was slower than that using Co-B or Ni-B. In addition, H2 generation rate using Fe-B/C cloth electrode can achieve 813 mLmin~(-1) g~(-1) catalyst at room temperature.