Synthesis of cobalt phosphates and their catalytic properties of the hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of NaBH4

Abstract

Amorphous cobalt phosphates were synthesized with their distinct morphology by controlling the amount of base in the synthetic condition. The crystallinity and morphology of cobalt phosphates were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared cobalt phosphates were applied as a heterogeneous catalyst for generating hydrogen gas from the hydrolysis reaction of sodium borohydride. We found that the catalyst prepared using the least amount of base condition at room temperature showed a plate shape with less than 10 nm thickness, which resulted in the best catalytic activity among all catalysts due to the large surface area. ? 2014 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. All rights reserved.