Properties of Sodium Hydroxide Modified Carbon Nanofibers in the Catalytic Decomposition of Formic Acid

Experiments on the decomposition of formic acid on carbon nanofibers (CNF) to obtain pure hydrogen were conducted. It has been shown that carbon nanofibers are capable of decomposing formic acid primarily with the formation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Alkaline treatment of CNF results in a sharp increase in the catalytic activity in the decomposition of formic acid. Treatment of CNF with alkali slightly increases the selectivity of the formic acid decomposition reaction to hydrogen and CO2. It was found that alkaline treatment leads to modification of the CNF surface with sodium ions, which are uniformly distributed over the carbon surface; in addition, sodium carbonate nanoparticles and sodium ions intercalated into the CNF structure are present. It was shown that the activity of the 0.2%Pt/CNF catalyst slightly exceeds the activity and selectivity of the 6% NaOH/CNF catalyst.