Synthesis of Ni@Ce-UiO-66 nano catalyst for the production of hydrogen via hydrolysis of sodium borohydride

Hydrogen gas (H2) is commonly regarded as an eco-friendly and renewable energy carrier. Ce-UiO-66 was modified through the impregnation of different concentrations of nickel nitrate (Ni(NO3)2·6H2O) in order to synthesize such high-performance catalysts, then the catalysts were characterized via XRD, FTIR, and N2 adsorption techniques. The dehydrogenation of NaBH4 was used to assess the catalytic activity of the synthesized materials. The hydrogen generation rate (HGR) measurements revealed the impact of Ni²⁺ doping. A marked increase in catalytic activity was observed compared to Ce-UiO-66. The work discussed the effects of catalyst loading, NaBH4 concentration, and reaction temperature. 20% Ni@Ce-UiO-66 catalyst demonstrates high (HGR) of 694 mL·min-1·g-1. Comprehensive kinetic and thermodynamic evaluations were performed through examining reaction rates (k), activation energy (Ea), and thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG). The obtained results highlight that these catalysts have strong potential for driving innovations in hydrogen energy systems. Moreover, the results proved high reusability, sustaining consistent performance across four cycles.