In the last decade, the push towards reliable, economical, and environmentally clean power systems for energy production has seen an increase in demand. Development of the hydrogen fuel cell has supplied the desired green energy source demanded but the cells lack in safety and efficiency. To increase efficiency and reduce the need for unsafe pressurized hydrogen, efficient catalysts need to be developed for the hydrogen fuel cell process. MOFs (metal organic frameworks) are becoming popular catalysts of interest due to their distinct properties as efficient energy converters and high capacities to store energy. The metal salt, NiCl₂•6H₂O, was coordinated to the organic ligands of disodium terephthalate (C₈H₄Na₂O₄) to synthesize the nickel terephthalate (Ni[C₆H₄(COO)₂]•4H₂O) MOF. The MOF was synthesized at 22 °C with crystal formation occurring between one and a half to two weeks. The efficiency of the MOF catalyst was also tested in aqueous solution with sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) at room temperature. The hydrogen produced was collected and weighed using a previously described water displacement system [1,2]. With one micromole of MOF material, the catalyst produced 55 mL of hydrogen within a 120 minute period. The reaction rate constant was consistently 63.54 L mol^-1 hr^-1.

References

1. T. Dushatinski, C. Huff, and T. Abdel-Fattah, Applied Surface Science, 385, 282 (2016).

2. C. Huff, T. Dushatinski, A. Barzanji, N. Abdel-Fattah, K. Barzanji, and T. Abdel-Fattah, ECS J Solid State, 6, M69-M71 (2017).