title: Nanostructured Ni2 P as a Robust Catalyst for the Hydrolytic Dehydrogenation of Ammonia-Borane.
abstract: Ammonia-borane (AB) is a promising chemical hydrogen-storage material. However, the development of real-time, efficient, controllable, and safe methods for hydrogen release under mild conditions is a challenge in the large-scale use of hydrogen as a long-term solution for future energy security. A new class of low-cost catalytic system is presented that uses nanostructured Ni2 P as catalyst, which exhibits excellent catalytic activity and high sustainability toward hydrolysis of ammonia-borane with the initial turnover frequency of 40.4 mol(H2)  mol(Ni2P) (-1)  min(-1) under air atmosphere and at ambient temperature. This value is higher than those reported for noble-metal-free catalysts, and the obtained Arrhenius activation energy (Ea =44.6 kJ mol(-1) ) for the hydrolysis reaction is comparable to Ru-based bimetallic catalysts. A clearly mechanistic analysis of the hydrolytic reaction of AB based on experimental results and a density functional theory calculation is presented.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650092, (P.R. China).|Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and HKU-CAS Joint Laboratory on New Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China).
authors.forename: Cheng-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Center for Crystal R&D, Key Lab of Functional Crystals and Laser Technology, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China).
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and HKU-CAS Joint Laboratory on New Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China).
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and HKU-CAS Joint Laboratory on New Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China).
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Crystal R&D, Key Lab of Functional Crystals and Laser Technology, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China).
authors.forename: Zhe-Shuai
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: College of Chemistry and Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650092, (P.R. China). fuwf@mail.ipc.ac.cn.|Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and HKU-CAS Joint Laboratory on New Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (P.R. China). fuwf@mail.ipc.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Wen-Fu
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Fu
keywords: ammonia-borane; heterogeneous catalysis; hydrogen storage; nickel phosphide; reaction mechanisms