Rapid preparation of Ru(0) nanoparticles stabilized with water-soluble biopolymer for hydrogen production from ammonia borane: Development of battery-like hydrolysis media

The biohybrid Na-Alg@Ru catalyst was prepared as a result of stabilizing Ru(0) nanoparticles with biopolymer chains of sodium alginate. The in-situ prepared Ru(0) nanoparticles had an average particle size of 1.023 ± 0.097 nm. The monodisperse Ru(0) nanoparticles prepared with a very practical, inexpensive and rapid method were used as a catalyst in hydrogen production by the hydrolysis reaction of ammonia borane (AB). The Na-Alg@Ru catalyst containing 3 mg Ru(0) metal catalyzed the hydrolysis of 50 mM AB with 100% yield, and the activation energy (Ea) of the reaction was estimated as 61.05 kJ mol−1. In addition, the Na-Alg@Ru nanoparticles were prepared with acrylamide as p(AAm)/Na-Alg@Ru hydrogel films suitable for use in hydrogen production in fuel cells, which represents a battery-like environment, and used for hydrogen production from AB. Thus, it was shown that the catalysts prepared in a few nm size could easily be used in battery-like environments.