Effects of Ag Doping on the Catalytic Performance of Co-B Nps for Hydrolysis of Alkaline Sodium Borohydride Solution

Ag doped Co-B NPs catalysts were synthesized by conventional chemical reduction method. Effect of the Ag doping amount on the catalyst activity towards the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride was investigated. For the characterization, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method were used. Experimental results indicated that the doping of Ag affects the catalyst morphology and increases the specific area. The optimal catalyst component was Co0.8-Ag0.2-B, the catalyst activity of which was 2.11 L/ (min.g) in 5 wt% NaBH4 + 5 wt% NaOH solution at 20 degrees C; whereas, the Co-B activity was only 1.85 L/ (min.g) under the same conditions. Meanwhile, the activation energy of Co0.8-Ag0.2-B is smaller than that of Co-B.