The application of microwave irradiation in the hydrolysis of NaBH4 is an attractive technique to generate H2 under mild reaction conditions. Carbon dots (CDs) are promising nanomaterials to be used for hydrogen production from liquid-solid reaction system because of their many outstanding properties, such as excellent microwave absorbing ability, high dispersion in aqueous solution, unique electron-transfer capacity, and strong metal coordination. Herein, carbon dots doped Co3O4 catalyst (CDs-doped Co3O4) was synthesized and utilized in the hydrolysis of NaBH4 under MW heating and conventional heating. It is found that when compared with conventional heating, microwave irradiation results in 34.1 (35 degrees Celsius) to 70.7% (55 degrees Celsius) enhancement in the hydrogen generation rate (HGR) of CDs-doped Co3O4 catalyst, which is ascribed to the combination function of thermal and non-thermal effects of microwave irradiation. Moreover, the occurrence of the non-thermal effect of MW irradiation was proved by using a specially designed experimental set-up, and the effective collision frequency on the reaction interface of the catalyst can be significantly improved by MW non-thermal effect. Furthermore, under MW irradiation at 40 degrees Celsius, the HGR catalyzed by CDs-doped Co3O4 is 4.5 times higher than that of pristine Co3O4. The effects of CDs on the catalytic performance of the CDs-doped Co3O4 run through the microwave-enhanced catalytic process, including enhancing microwave absorbing ability, improving the hydrophilicity of the catalyst, and lower the activation energy of the breakdown of O-H bonds in H2O and B-H bonds in NaBH4.

Carbon dots-doped Co3O4 catalyst used for efficient microwave-promoted hydrolysis of sodium borohydride

Where thousands of chemistry professionals meet to share ideas and advance scientific and technical knowledge. Spring 2023 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch at the end of March.

ACS Spring 2023

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.