Development of waste material-based catalysts for production of hydrogen from sodium boron hydride

In the present study, a cobalt-doped catalyst was prepared from chicken eggshell powder (CEP) biowaste to be used in the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4). In the presence of the prepared catalyst (CEPcat), possible effects of the parameters of NaOH concentration (%), catalyst amount (g), NaBH4 concentration (%), process temperature (oC) and reusability affecting the hydrolysis of sodium borohydride were examined. The CEPcat obtained was characterized with FT-IR, TGA, XRD, SEM and EDX analyses. The hydrogen generation rate (HGR) was determined as 432 mL gCo−1 min−1 in the presence of 1 g CEPcat, a CoO/CaO ratio of 10/90 and 1% NaBH4 concentration. The activation energy of the NaBH4 hydrolysis reaction was calculated as 16.78 kJ mol−1. After 16 reuses of the CEPcat there was no significant decrease in the hydrogen volume. Compared to the first use while there was an increase in the HGR. These results showed that the CEPcat prepared has a significant advantage over other catalysts for use in NaBH4 hydrolysis.