Palladium nanoparticles supported on cobalt(II,III) oxide nanocatalyst: High reusability and outstanding catalytic activity in hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane

A new palladium(0) nanocatalyst is developed to enhance the catalytic efficiency of precious metal catalysts in hydrogen generation from the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. Magnetically separable Pd0/Co3O4 nanocatalyst can readily be obtained by the reduction of palladium(II) cations impregnated on cobalt(II, III) oxide at room temperature. The obtained Pd0/Co3O4 nanocatalyst with 0.25% wt. palladium loading has outstanding catalytic activity with a record turnover frequency of 3048 min−1 in the releasing H2 from the hydrolysis of ammonia borane at 25.0 °C. They also provide outstanding reusability even after the tenth run of the hydrolysis of ammonia borane at 25.0 °C. The high activity and superb stability of magnetically isolable Pd0/Co3O4 nanoparticles are attributed to the favorable interaction of palladium with the surface of reducible cobalt oxide.