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Abstract: Solid-state NaBH4/Ru-based catalyst composites have been fabricated for hydrogen generation through a high-energy ball-milling process, providing uniform dispersion of resin-supported Ru3+ catalysts among pulverized NaBH4 (SBH) particles, so as to increase the contacts of SBH with active catalytic sites. Consequently, the gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity as high as 7.3wt% could be achieved by utilizing water as a limiting reagent to overcome the issue of deactivated catalysts whose active sites are often blocked by precipitates caused by limited NaBO2 solubility occurring in conventional aqueous SBH systems for hydrogen productions. Products of hydrolyzed SBH that greatly influence the gravimetric H2 storage capacity are found to be most likely NaBO2·2H2O and NaBO2·4H2O from SBH/H2O reacting systems with initial weight ratios, SBH/H2O=1/2 and 1/10, respectively, according to the TGA and XRD analyses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hydrolysis of sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is a promising method for on-board hydrogen supply to polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). This article presents an attempt to design a novel solid-state NaBH4 composite, which is made up of NaBH4 powder, Co2+/IR-120 catalyst and silicone rubber, for hydrogen generator. The silicone rubber can act as a stabilizer in the solid-state NaBH4 composite because of its surface hydrophobicity leading to reduced diffusion rate of water into the composite. The solid-state NaBH4 composite can produce hydrogen stably near 25mLmin−1 for at least 2h without employment of any mechanical control system. Using the hydrogen generated from the solid-state NaBH4 composite, a 2W PEMFC stack is successfully operated to power a cellular phone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]