Effect of boric acid on thermal dehydrogenation of ammonia borane: H₂ yield and process characteristics

We have recently demonstrated that boric acid (H₃BO₃, BA) is a promising additive to decrease onset temperature as well as to enhance hydrogen release kinetics for thermolysis of ammonia borane (NH₃BH₃, AB). The observations suggest that tetrahydroxyborate ion released by heating BA serves as Lewis acid and catalyzes AB dehydrogenation. Using this approach, we obtained high H₂ yield at 85°C, along with rapid kinetics. Various operating conditions were investigated, such as reactor temperature, AB wt %, and particle size of BA. Even in the presence of 10 wt % BA, high H₂ yield (13 wt %) and trace amount of ammonia (10-20 ppm) were obtained at 80°C, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell operating temperature. To our knowledge, such H₂ yield value is higher than from any other method using AB with additive or catalyst at PEM fuel cell operating temperatures.