Boosting borohydride hydrolysis for H₂ generation by MOF-templated void-engineered shaggy cobalt oxide: Abundant oxygen vacancy-mediated enhancement

Designing an advantageous catalyst for enhancing the release of hydrogen (H₂) from NaBH₄ hydrolysis is still desirable. Herein, a void-engineered shaggy cobalt oxide (VSCO) is constructed via facile carving and calcination using the cuboid cobalt-based metal organic framework (Co-MOF) as a template. The as-prepared VSCO shows unique structural properties, such as large internal void, high specific surface area, and abundant oxygen vacancy, enabling VSCO to boost H₂ production from NaBH₄ hydrolysis. VSCO also exhibits an activation energy (E_a) of 28.9 kJ mol⁻¹, which is much lower than that of commercial Co₃O₄ NP (62.9 kJ mol⁻¹) and most of recent reported noble metals. VSCO also retains its outstanding catalytic activity over multiple cycles. This work sheds a light into the new approach of constructing metal oxide material with the void structure and abundant oxygen vacancies for catalyzing the hydrolysis of NaBH₄. Copyright © 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.