TiO <sub>2</sub> ‐Engineered MOFs Activate Electron‐Rich Ni Sites for Efficient and Durable Hydrogen Production
Controlling the electronic structure of non-noble metal active sites is the central challenge to unlocking fast and durable hydrogen release from hydrous hydrazine (N<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub>·H<sub>2</sub>O, 8.0 wt%), a promising liquid hydrogen-storage material. Herein, for the first time, we demonstrate that TiO<sub>2</sub>-engineered NH<sub>2</sub>-MIL-101(Cr) enables strong electronic metal-support interaction (EMSI) to generate confined electron-rich Ni active sites with an ultrafine size of 3.2 nm, thereby markedly accelerating the rate-determining N-H bond activation. As a result, the Ni/TiO<sub>2</sub>-NH<sub>2</sub>-MIL-101 delivers a turnover frequency (TOF) of 422 h<sup>-1</sup> at 343 K for N<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub>·H<sub>2</sub>O dehydrogenation, 28, 10, and 4 times higher than unsupported Ni NPs (15 h<sup>-1</sup>), Ni/MIL-101 (42 h<sup>-1</sup>), and Ni/NH<sub>2</sub>-MIL-101 (98 h<sup>-1</sup>), respectively, while maintaining 100% H<sub>2</sub> selectivity and exceptional stability over 20 cycles, outperforming the state-of-the-art nonprecious metal catalysts reported for this reaction. It also exhibits superior catalytic activity and robust durability toward hydrazine borane (N<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub>BH<sub>3</sub>, 15.4 wt%) dehydrogenation, achieving a TOF up to 881 h<sup>-1</sup> at 343 K. These findings demonstrate that TiO<sub>2</sub>-driven electronic activation of Ni sites in MOFs offers a generalizable support-engineering strategy for efficient and durable hydrogen production from liquid hydrogen-storage materials.
Authors
- Zhiwen Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8996-1638)
- Zhang‐Hui Lu
- Qilu Yao
- Kun Wang
- Tao Liang
- Gang Feng
Institutions
- Nanchang University (CN)
- Ministry of Education (PT)
- Jiangxi Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ChemSusChem
- Published
- 2026-03-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.70524
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00