文摘
Molecular hydrogen is one of the essential reactants in the chemical industry, and its generation from renewable sources such as biomass materials and water is of great benefit to the future society. Generally, molecular oxygen should be pre-eliminated in the hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) in order to avoid the reverse hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). Here, we report a highly efficient HER from a formaldehyde/water mixture using MgO supported Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs/MgO) as the catalyst and molecular oxygen as a promoter. The HER rate depends almost linearly on the oxygen partial pressure, and the optimal turnover frequency (TOF) of the silver catalyst exceeds 6,600 h–1. Based on the experimental and theoretical results, a surface stabilized MgO/Ag–•OOH complex is suggested to be the main catalytically active species for the HER.
