Preparation of rice husk-based carbon supported ruthenium catalyst for the hydrolysis of ammonia borane to produce hydrogen

An efficient dehydrogenation catalyst is crucial for the application of ammonia borane (NH₃BH₃, AB) as a solid chemical hydrogen storage material. In this work, a kind of nitrogen-doped rice husk activated carbon (N-RHC) was prepared by roasting melamine and rice husk at high temperature under nitrogen atmosphere. With N-RHC as the support, the rice husk-based carbon supported ruthenium catalyst (Ru/N-RHC) was prepared through impregnation with the RuCl₃ solution and its catalytic performance in the hydrolysis of ammonia borane to produce hydrogen was investigated. The results indicate that the Ru/N-RHC catalyst with a Ru loading of 5% performs excellently in the hydrolysis of ammonia borane; the reaction turnover frequency (TOF) reaches 83.71 min⁻¹ and the apparent activation energy decreases from 88.9 to 64.9 kJ/mol under light irradiation. In addition, the hydrogen production rate is positively correlated with the content of ammonia borane and catalyst.