A light-weight sponge catalyst for hydrogen generation from liquid hydrogen carriers

In this work, we report a sponge catalyst for hydrogen generation from liquid hydrogen carriers. Commercial melamine formaldehyde (MF) sponge is grafted with polyvinyl alcohol by acid catalyzed acetalization with formaldehyde. The obtained polyvinyl formal/MF (PVF/MF) composite sponge combines the intrinsic light-weight, high porosity and fast liquid absorbing rate of the MF sponge with enhanced metal binding strength. By a simple impregnation-sodium borohydride reduction method in aqueous solution, metals can be uniformly loaded to the fibers of the PVF/MF sponge with strong adhesion. The metal loaded PVF/MF sponge has unique advantages as a catalyst for hydrogen generation from liquid hydrogen carriers, including high activity, high hydrogen storage density, easy catalyst recycling and quasi solid state during H-2 generation, as demonstrated in the applications of NaBH4 solution and thermal dehydrogenation of perhydro N-ethylcarbazole.

Automated summary

In this study, a sponge catalyst for hydrogen generation from liquid hydrogen carriers was developed. The commercial melamine formaldehyde (MF) sponge was modified by grafting polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) through acid-catalyzed acetalization with formaldehyde. The resulting polyvinyl formal/MF (PVF/MF) composite sponge exhibited excellent characteristics as a catalyst, including high activity, high hydrogen storage density, easy catalyst recycling, and quasi-solid state behavior during H-2 generation, as demonstrated in the applications of NaBH4 solution and thermal dehydrogenation of perhydro N-ethylcarbazole.