PbS based ionic liquid immobilized onto fibrous nano-silica as robust and recyclable heterogeneous catalysts for the hydrogen production by dehydrogenation of formic acid.

Novel nano catalyst systems comprised of PbS nanoparticles immobilized into the nanospaces of ionic liquid (IL)-based KCC-1 (KCC-1/IL/PbS) have been described for the dehydrogenation of aqueous solutions of HCOOH/HCOONa to H 2 and CO 2 gas due to not only the unique dendritic fibrous morphology of the support, which made the active sites accessible, but also the synergistic effect between KCC-1/IL and the small PbS NPs. KCC-1 with high surface area was functionalized with ionic liquid (IL) acting as the robust anchors so that the nanoparticles were well-dispersed on the fibers of the KCC-1 microspheres, without aggregation. Because of the amplification effect of IL, high loading capacities of the nanocatalysts were achieved. The synthesized KCC-1/IL/PbS nanocatalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity in dehydrogenation of aqueous solutions of HCOOH/HCOONa to H 2 and CO 2 under mild conditions to the easy accessibility of the active sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]