Effects of plasma treatment, La content and temperature on the La–Ni–Mo–B catalysts for hydrogen production from NaBH₄ hydrolysis

ABSTRACT

La–Ni–Mo–B catalysts with 0.15, 0.21 and 0.30-mol La molar ratio are prepared by a mixing method followed by a plasma treatment, characterised and investigated for hydrogen production via sodium borohydride hydrolysis. XRD, SEM, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and FTIR techniques are used for characterising the catalysts. The hydrogen generation rate at 60°C compared to 30°C using La–Ni–Mo–B under the same conditions is significantly different. The effect of temperature, plasma application time and different plasma gases on hydrogen generation from NaBH₄ hydrolysis reaction using La_0.21–Ni–Mo–B catalyst is investigated. It was found that the plasma-treated catalysts exhibited low activation energy for zero order (58 kJ mol⁻¹).

KEYWORDS:

• Plasma
• surface
• modification
• lantanium
• sodium borohydride
• temperature
• La–Ni–mo–B

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are grateful to the Research Foundation of Siirt University for financial support under Project 2013-SİÜMÜH-M5.