Highly efficient hydrolysis of ammonia borane by anion (−OH, F−, Cl−)-tuned interactions between reactant molecules and CoP nanoparticles

Zi-Cheng Fu,a  Yong Xu,a  Sharon Lai-Fung Chan,b  Wei-Wei Wang,c  Fang Li,a  Fei Liang,a  Yong Chen,a  Zhe-Shuai Lin,a  Wen-Fu Fu*ac  and  Chi-Ming Che*d

Author affiliations

*Corresponding authors

aKey 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
E-mail: fuwf@mail.ipc.ac.cn

bDepartment of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, P. R. China

cCollege of Chemistry and Engineering, Yunnan Normal University, P. R. China

dDepartment of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, P. R. China

Abstract

The CoP nanoparticle catalyst had excellent catalytic activity and a short catalytic induction period in the presence of anions, and high sustainability in ammonia borane hydrolysis, with an initial turnover frequency of 72.2 mol(H2) mol(CoP)−1 min−1 at ambient temperature. This value is unprecedented for noble-metal-free catalytic systems.