Efficient hydrolysis of alkaline sodium borohydride catalyzed by cobalt nanoparticles supported on three–dimensional graphene oxide

Abstract Highly dispersed cobalt nanoparticles supported on three-dimensional graphene oxide particles (Co@3DGO) have been successfully prepared by a chemical reduction method. Cobalt presents a dispersive morphology with an average diameter of 20 nm. 3DGO exhibits a stereo lamellar structure with oxygen containing functional groups which increases effective contact area and anchors the cobalt ions. Co carried on 3DGO induces a higher hydrogen generation rate (HGR) in NaBH4 hydrolysis up to 4394 mL H 2 min − 1 g cobalt − 1 at 298 K. As well as the reaction activation energy is 37 kJ mol−1. Moreover, it was found that recycling performance is inverse to the concentration of NaOH. After five consecutive cycles, the recyclability retention percentage increases from 54% to 70% when the concentration of NaOH was reduced from 0.25 M to 0.05 M.