Pt catalysed hydrogen generation by hydrolysis of sodium tetrahydroborate

The hydrolysis of sodium tetrahydroborate is a promising way for generating hydrogen. The key element of this process is the catalyst. The present study reports the performances of Pt-based catalysts (supported over various metal oxides like TiO2 or ZrO2, with different Pt loadings, or doped with metal-'impurities' like Ag or Pd). TiO2 is the best support and the optimal Pt loading is 2 wt%. Addition of metal-'impurities' to Pt is detrimental to the performances of Pt-TiO2. However, the first results with Pt Pd-TiO2 are even, so promising for the continuation of such a study. The present paper discusses these results.