Interest in chemical hydrogen storage has increased, because the supply of fossil fuels are limited and the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels on the environment have become a focus of public concern. Hydrogen, as one of the energy carriers, is useful for the sustainable development. However, it is widely known that controlled storage and release of hydrogen are the biggest barriers in large-scale application of hydrogen energy. Ammonia borane (NH3BH3, AB) is deemed as one of the most promising hydrogen storage candidates on account of its high hydrogen to mass ratio and environmental benignity. Development of efficient catalysts to further improve the properties of chemical kinetics in the dehydrogenation of AB under appropriate conditions is of importance for the practical application of this system. In previous studies, a variety of noble metal catalysts and their supported metal catalysts (Pt, Pd, Au, Rh, etc.) have presented great properties in decomposing the chemical hydride to generate hydrogen, thus, promoting their application in dehydrogenation of AB is urgent. We analyzed the hydrolysis of AB from the mechanism of hydrogen release reaction to understand more deeply. Based on these characteristics, we aimed to summarize recent advances in the development of noble metal catalysts, which had excellent activity and stability for AB dehydrogenation, with prospect towards realization of efficient noble metal catalysts.
Hydrogen energy is considered to be a desired energy storage carrier because of its high-energy density, extensive sources, and is environmentally friendly. The development of hydrogen storage material, especially liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC), has drawn intensive attention to address the problem of hydrogen utilization. Hydrogen carrier is a material that can reversibly absorb and release hydrogen using catalysts at elevated temperature, in which LOHC mainly relies on the covalent bonding of hydrogen during storage to facilitate long-distance transportation and treatment. In this review, the chemical properties and state-of-the-art of LOHCs were investigated and discussed. It reviews the latest research progress with regard to liquid organic hydrogen storage materials, namely N-ethylcarbazole, and the recent progress in the preparation of efficient catalysts for N-ethylcarbazole dehydrogenation by using metal multiphase catalysts supported by carbon–nitrogen materials is expounded. Several approaches have been considered to obtain efficient catalysts such as increasing the surface area of the support, optimizing particle size, and enhancing the porous structure of the support. This review provides a new direction for the research of hydrogen storage materials and considerations for follow-up research.
Hydrous hydrazine (N2H4∙H2O) is a candidate for a hydrogen carrier for storage and transportation due to low material cost, high hydrogen content of 8.0%, and liquid stability at room temperature. Pt and Pt nanoalloy catalysts have been welcomed by researchers for the dehydrogenation of hydrous hydrazine recently. Therefore, in this review, we give a summary of Pt nanoalloy catalysts for the dehydrogenation of hydrous hydrazine and briefly introduce the decomposition mechanism of hydrous hydrazine to prove the design principle of the catalyst. The chemical characteristics of hydrous hydrazine and the mechanism of dehydrogenation reaction are briefly introduced. The catalytic activity of hydrous hydrazine on different supports and the factors affecting the selectivity of hydrogen catalyzed by Ni-Pt are analyzed. It is expected to provide a new way for the development of high-activity catalysts for the dehydrogenation of hydrous hydrazine to produce hydrogen.