Monodisperse palladium-nickel alloy nanoparticles assembled on graphene oxide with the high catalytic activity and reusability in the dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane

Abstract

Herein, a highly efficient and stable palladium nickel nanoparticles (Pd-Ni NPs) supported on graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized, characterized and applied for the dehydrogenation of dimethyl ammonia borane (DMAB). The monodisperse Pd-Ni NPs has been synthesized via the ultrasonic double solvent reduction method in the presence of oleylamine and GO as support matrices. The structure morphology and properties of Pd-Ni@GO NPs were characterized by using different techniques such as UV-VIS, XPS, TEM, HRTEM and XRD methods. The Pd-Ni@GO NPs was found to be highly effective and stable in the dehydrogenation of DMAB. This catalyst with the turnover frequency of 271.9 h(-1) shows one of the best results among the all prepared catalysts in literature for the dehydrogenation of DMAB. The apparent activation parameters of the catalytic dehydrogenation reaction were also calculated; apparent activation energy (E-a,E-app) = 38 +/- 2 kJ mol(-1), activation enthalpy (Delta H-#,(app)) = 35 +/- 1 kJ mol(-1) and activation entropy (Delta S-#,(app)) = -102 +/- 1 J K-1 mol(-1).