Hydrogen production through hydrolysis of NaBH4: The use of catalysts containing Pt and Pt-Ru

Several works about hydrolysis of NaBH4 utilizing various catalysts (such as catalysts containing Pt or Ru) are available in the literature. Investigations involving NaBH4 has increased due to the possibility to produce hydrogen using simple and safe systems, even at room temperatures with very high efficiencies. A solution containing a gravimetric composition of 10%wt. NaOH, 10%wt. NaBH4 and 80%wt. H2O was utilized and the reaction was initiated immediately as soon as this solution was put in the chosen catalysts, in this case, catalysts containing Pt and mixtures of Pt-Ru. Catalysts containing Pt and Pt-Ru presented high yields of hydrogen after the solution being inserted in the reaction vessel several times. In this study it was found out that the rates of hydrogen production were increased with catalysts containing Pt and Pt-Ru (99 and 96% of theoretical hydrogen production respectively). The catalysts containing Pt presented higher production rate, while the catalysts containing the mixed Pt-Ru presented a quasi-linear production, e.g., stable production rate.Qc 2012020