Co─Cu Bimetal Oxides Embedded in Hollow Silicalite-1 for Catalytic Hydrogen Generation From Ammonia Borane Hydrolysis.

Constructing dual active sites to activate different reactants can effectively lower the reaction energy barrier and significantly improve catalytic activity. Herein, Co─Cu bimetal oxides embedded in the hollow S-1 shell were prepared by the impregnation and dissolution-recrystallization method. The catalyst with a Co/Cu molar ratio of 1:1 exhibited good catalytic activity with a maximum TOF value of 948 molH2∙molcat -1∙h-1. DFT shows that Co sites at CuO─Co3O4 interface can efficiently activate the NH3BH3 molecule, while Cu sites at the interface effectively activate the H2O molecule. The electron transfer between CuO─Co3O4 bimetallic oxides and introduction of hollow S-1 supports effectively promote the hydrogen generation and stability via the ensemble effect. This creates a new method to fabricate other hollow zeolite shell-confined metal/metal oxide catalysts.