Carbon dots-confined CoP-CoO nanoheterostructure with strong interfacial synergy triggered the robust hydrogen evolution from ammonia borane

Ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) is promising for chemical hydrogen storage; however, current systems for rapid hydrogen production are limited by the expensive noble metal catalysts required for AB hydrolysis. Here we report the design and synthesis of a highly efficient and robust non-noble-metal catalyst for the hydrolysis of AB at 298 K (TOF = 89.56 mol(H2) min(-1) mol(Co)(-1)). Experiments and density functional theory calculations were performed to explore the catalyst's hybrid nanoparticle heterostructure and its catalytic mechanism. The catalyst comprised nitrogen-doped carbon dots confining CoO and CoP, and exhibited strong interface-induced synergistic catalysis for AB hydrolysis that effectively decreased the energy barriers for the dissociation of both AB and water molecules. The co-doping of N and P introduced numerous defects, and further regulated the reactivity of the carbon layers. The heterogeneous interface design technique presented here provides a new strategy for developing efficient and inexpensive non-noble-metal catalysts that may be applicable in other fields related to energy catalysis. (C) 2020 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study presents a highly efficient and robust non-noble-metal catalyst for the hydrolysis of ammonia borane, which exhibits strong interface-induced synergistic catalysis to decrease energy barriers and introduce numerous defects for enhanced reactivity. The heterogeneous interface design technique proposed here may offer a new strategy for developing efficient and cost-effective catalysts in energy catalysis.