Natural Celluloses as Catalysts in Dehydrogenation of NaBH4in Methanol for H2Production

Abstract

Cellulose, the most abundant renewable biopolymer, exists in many forms, such as microgranular cellulose (MGCell), sigmacell cellulose (SCell), cellulose fibers (FCell), and α-cellulose (AlfaCell). Several of these cellulose forms were protonated with an amine-containing agent polyethyleneimine (PEI), and the modified celluloses (XCell-PEI+) were studied as catalysts in methanolysis of NaBH4 for hydrogen (H2) generation. It was found that the SCell-PEI+-catalyzed reaction is the fastest one among the modified celluloses with a hydrogen generation rate of 5520 ± 119 mL H2/(g of catalyst × min). The activation energies of MGCell-PEI+, SCell-PEI+, FCell-PEI+, and AlfaCell-PEI+ were determined as +21.7, +23.4, +24.8, and + 21.8 kJ/mol, respectively. Reusability of catalysts was investigated, and regeneration of cellulose based catalysts after the fifth cycle could be readily achieved by HCl treatment to completely recover its activity. Therefore, PEI-modified-protonated cellulose forms constitute sustainable, re-generable, and renewable catalysts for production of H2, an environmentally benign green energy carrier.