Cobalt-manganese-boron/nickel foam for hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride solution

Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is widely favored for its own high hydrogen storage capacity. However, the H2 release rate of NaBH4 hydrolysis is very slow in the absence of catalysts, and so it is important to add catalysts with high performance for efficient hydrolysis. In this work, Co-Mn-B/Ni foam materials were synthesized via chemical deposition way in a mild environment and employed to catalyze NaBH4 hydrolysis. By changing the concentration of reducing agent, the optimal Co-Mn-B/Ni foam with high catalytic performance was obtained, providing the highest H2 generation rate of 8710 mL min−1·g−1 and low apparent activation energy of 34.6 kJ mol−1. The catalytic performance was obviously better than that of binary Co-B/Ni foam catalyst. The improved activity of the catalyst could be attributed to the special fluffy spherical morphology of the surface, which supplied high specific surface area to efficiently transport of H2, as well as the synergistic effect of the multiple components. In addition, the hydrogen production rate was maintained about 55.5 % of the first value after 5 cycles, showing the superior stability of Co-Mn-B/Ni foam during the hydrolysis.