Catalytic dehydrogenation of dimethylamine borane in the presence of Cu/0/WO3 nanoclusters

In recent years, hydrogen as an energy carrier is accepted as being the fuel of the future that could help end the world's dependence on fossil fuel and aid the transition to carbon-zero emissions. However, the safe and effective storage of H2 (g) is one of the major issues that must be conquered for stationary and mobile fuel cell applications in the use of hydrogen Economy. Dimethylamine borane is known as a chemical hydrogen storage material that contains a great percentage of H2 by weight, nontoxicity, and stability in solution, so it is considered a promising candidate as a hydrogen source used in fuel cells. Hydrogen gas could be released from DMAB using suitable catalyst. Transition metals are use as catalysts in the production of H2 from boron-nitrogen compounds. However, metal nanoparticles have a penchant to agglomerate with the forming of bulk metal, causing a momentous decrease in catalytic activity with growing particle size. At this concern, supporting on the surface of appropriate materials is one way to prevent the agglomeration of NPs. Herein, the research includes the preparation, catalytic usage and characterization of WO3 supported Cu0 NPs, Cu0/WO3 nanoparticles, as a catalyst for hydrogen obstetrics from dimethylamine borane. WO3 supported Cu0 NPs were in-situ generated from the reduction of copper (II) 2-ethylhexanoate by DMAB through its dehydrogenation reaction at 60.0 ± 0.5 °C. Cu0/WO3 nanoparticles were detached from the solution and characterized by using some leading analytic techniques such as Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Visible electronic absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).