Catalytic dehydrogenation of formic acid-triethanolamine mixture using copper nanoparticles

Strategic examination of the classical catalysis of formic acid decomposition for intermittent hydrogen production, storage and supply: A review

“…These will provide the necessary information required for efficient designs of suitable fuel housing units in cars for hydrogen storage and thus, inform the type of modifications required in existing IC-engines for their compatibilities with hydrogen gas. Also, it should be noted that reactions beyond 90 • C are not encouraged since a car begins to show signs of over-heating beyond 90 • C. The authors of this paper have also incorporated some of the findings made by Sanni et al [24] for a formic acid decomposition process where nano-catalysts (copper nanoparticles) supported on triethanolamine were used to speed up the process.…”

“…Efforts need also be put in place for the capture of CO 2 since an equivalent amount in mole of CO 2 as obtained for hydrogen, is released during the process. By the experimental procedure discussed in Sanni et al [24], where a Cu-tertiary amine system was adopted for the first time in producing hydrogen from formic acid, it is evident that, the process guarantees less release of CO 2 by the method of collection (i.e. downward displacement of water) due to CO 2 solubility in water.…”

“…Furthermore, the hydrogen produced can be passed over limewater (Ca(OH) 2 ) in order to completely strip the gas of CO 2 and other trace gases, this will aim at ensuring the availability of pure hydrogen for storage and fuelling of automobiles. Hence, at a later section, much of the discussions will focus on some of the best published catalysts for high hydrogen production as well as, the use of copper and its special attributes that ensures its reliable use over several cycles (the referred Cu-tertiary amine system has a reusability of 20 cycles in 120 h) [24].…”

“…Most proposals/elementary steps involved in the decomposition process are similar to those of methanol synthesis and WGS reactions in terms of their similar reaction pathway. The work of Sanni et al [24] gave a plausible reaction scheme as mechanism for FA decomposition where the reaction simply occurs between stable copper catalysts at varied concentrations which are supported on a tertiary amine which helps to disallow the early contamination of Cu thus extending its service life. Hence, the kinetics of the process can dwell on the dehydrogenation step rather than the COproduction step which stimulates catalyst poisoning.…”

“…In addition, the anchor-metals for nanoparticles kinetically serve as the rate controlling steps for catalytic processes [22], whereas, this is not the case for non-supported colloidal metal catalysts in semi-homogeneous systems [23]. Although, Sanni et al [24] synthesized a prominent Cu-tertiary amine catalyst, the chemistry of the synthetic pathway was not studied. This review paper looks into understanding the mechanism and chemistry of the formation step of the formate-intermediate pathway, as one consisting of several elementary steps of the FA-conversion process towards obtaining synthetic hydrogen; the Cu-active sites and coordinates were also examined in relation to hydrogen yield.…”