Boosting the Catalytic Performance of NiMoO 4 Nanorods in H 2 Generation upon NH 3 BH 3 Hydrolysis via a Reduction Process.

Although a range of noble metal catalysts, including Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt, and Au, have been developed for efficient H 2 generation upon NH 3 BH 3 hydrolysis at room temperature, this is a highly urgent need for exploring earth-abundant metal nanocatalysts for H 2 generation upon NH 3 BH 3 hydrolysis. Herein, a NaBH 4 reduction strategy was developed to boost the catalytic performance of NiMoO 4 nanorods in H 2 generation upon NH 3 BH 3 hydrolysis. Indeed, the pristine NiMoO 4 nanorods were catalytically inert in NH 3 BH 3 hydrolysis. Significantly, the reduced NiMoO 4 nanorods presented excellent catalytic activity in H 2 generation upon NH 3 BH 3 hydrolysis, with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 31.2 L(H 2 ) · g cat -1 · h -1 . Interestingly, the TOF of NH 3 BH 3 hydrolysis over reduced NiMoO 4 nanorods significantly increased from 31.2 to 53.6 L(H 2 ) · g cat -1 · h -1 under 0.3 M NaOH. The boosting catalytic performance of NiMoO 4 nanorods via NaBH 4 reduction in H 2 generation might be attributed to the higher content of O ads and the formation of nickel boride in the reduced NiMoO 4 nanorods. In this work, NH 3 BH 3 hydrolysis over reduced NiMoO 4 nanorods was not only used for safe H 2 generation but also for its in situ tandem hydrogenation in organic chemistry.