Oxygen and nitrogen-functionalized porous carbon particles derived from hazelnut shells for the efficient catalytic hydrogen production reaction

Abstract

Due to their low cost and high availability, interest in biomass materials in catalytic studies is increasing. It is possible to increase the catalytic activities by the development of metal-free catalysts obtained by adding different atoms to carbon materials. Here, oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N) doped metal-free carbon catalysts (N-AC-N) were synthesized using activated carbon (AC) obtained from hazelnut shells by KOH activation. These metal-free catalysts were used successfully for the first time in the NaBH4 methanolysis reaction (NaBH4-MR). The structural and physical-chemical properties of the metal-free catalysts obtained were analysed by XRD (X-ray diffraction), elemental analysis (CHNS), FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), and nitrogen adsorption surface analyses. N and O doped metal-free catalyst showed very good catalytic performance against NaBH4-MR. The hydrogen production rate (HGR) with 10 mg metal-free catalyst at 30 °C and the activation energy(Ea) of the reaction were calculated as 16250 mL min−1 g−1 and 11.45 kJ mol−1, respectively. At the same time, with favourable reusability results, this metal-free catalyst is a promising candidate for the hydrogen(H2) generation system.