Effect of carriers on deposition morphologies and catalytic performances of NiCo2O4

In this study, NiCo2O4 with different morphologies were fabricated using carriers by homogeneous coprecipitation combined with a sintering method. The phase and microstructure were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, TEM and BET, and the catalytic performances were investigated by NaBH4 hydrolysis experiments. These studies revealed that the deposition morphology of NiCo2O4 can be adjusted by using different kinds of carrier templates, and the supported NiCo2O4 samples presented the pine-needle-like, network-like, ball-cactus-like and dandelion-like morphologies respectively. The optimal catalytic activity, durability and stability make the network-like NiCo2O4 an appropriate catalyst for hydrogen generation of NaBH4 hydrolysis. It was found that the network-like NiCo(2)O(4 )is the most reusable and durable catalyst for ten consecutive cycles and 100% hydrogen generation conversion rate without obvious decrease among these morphologies.