Effective TiO₂ supported Cu-Complex catalyst in NaBH₄ hydrolysis reaction to hydrogen generation

This paper reports the experimental results on using TiO₂ based Cu(II)-Schiff Base complex catalyst for hydrolysis of NaBH₄. In the presence of Cu-Schiff Base complex which we reported in advance [1] and with titanium dioxide supports a novel catalyst named TiO₂ supported 4-4′-Methylenbis (2,6-diethyl)aniline-3,5-di-tert-buthylsalisylaldimine-Cu complex is prepared, successfully. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by means of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller Surface Area Analysis (BET) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The as prepared catalyst was employed to generate hydrogen through hydrolysis reaction of NaBH₄. Effects of different parameters (e.g. amount of Cu-Schiff Base complex in all catalyst, percentage of NaBH₄, percentage of NaOH, amount of TiO₂ supported Cu-Schiff Base complex catalyst and different temperatures) are also investigated. A high apparent activation energy (Ea), 25,196 kJ.mol^-1 is calculated for hydrolysis of NaBH₄ at 20–50 °C. Hydrogen generation rate was 14,020 mL H₂/g_cat.min and 22,071 mL H₂/g_cat.min in order of 30 °C and 50 °C.