The effects of plasma treatment on electrochemical activity of Co–B–P catalyst for hydrogen production by hydrolysis of NaBH₄

In this paper, the hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of NaBH₄ with plasma treated Co–B–P catalyst are investigated as based on NaBH₄ concentration, NaOH concentration, temperature, plasma applying time and plasma gases. The changes in surface chemistry and morphology induced by the plasma treatment are examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N₂ adsorption–desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The hydrogen generation rate from hydrolysis of NaBH₄ with Co–B–P prepared in the presence of plasma is completed in 12 min time intervals that exhibited a higher hydrogen generation rate of 60%, while the Co–B–P produced in known method let to slower hydrogen release, and the hydrolysis is completed in 30 min time intervals. The maximum hydrogen generation rates of the plasma treated and plasma untreated Co–B–P catalysts toward NaBH₄ hydrolysis are 3976 and 1807 mL/g/min, respectively. The activation energy for zero-order is found to be 49.11 kJ mol⁻¹.